Nelson Nahabwe, the Busia District Police Commander, says they picked up the suspects on Tuesday on a tip off from a crime preventer. He says they found the human bones stuffed in a rolling bag inside the house of Ali Mashar, one of the suspects.
According to Nahabwe, they picked up Ali who led them to his accomplices. In his statement to police, Ali claims the bones belong to their grandfather who was buried 20 years ago. He says they exhumed the bones from their family land, which was sold to a church by their brother Miraj Mashar.
Ali says as a family they resolved to exhume the remains and transfer them to place with less noise.
Another suspect, Faridah Mashar blames the mess on their elder brother, Miraj Mashar who she accuses of selling off their family land without their consent. She argues that they could not sit and watch the peace of their late grandfather being disturbed by the noise from the church.
Seyyid Wandera, the area LC I chairman Marach D. Village, says the family has been involved in a longstanding land feud. According to Wandera, his family tried to resolve the dispute in vain forcing them to refer the matter to police.
Nelson Nahabwe, the Busia District Police Commander, says they investigating the motive of the suspects. According to Nahabwe, the suspects will be charged with disturbing the peace of the dead once their investigations are complete.