Kaniziyusi Karuranga, 56, a businessman who was injured by thugs in Ntunga trading centre, Rwamagana district says one of his attackers was a man who operated a hair salon ‘just next to my shop.’He urged local leaders to screen residents of various communities to identify suspected criminals. "Some of those that attacked us were strangers, but they were invited by our neighbours. We have people who recently came to settle in our villages with unknown criminal record...they should be identified and sent away,” he told Dr. Alivera Mukabaramba, Minister of State for Community Development and Social Affairs.The minister was visiting four men and one woman admitted to Rwamagana Hospital after machete-wielding thugs attacked the villages of Ntunga and Musha in Rwamagana District lastweek.At least two people died and eight were seriously injured in the attack. "Acts of robbery and murder are new in this area,” Karuranga said.Another victim of the attack, Theogen Rubasika, also said he knew one of his attackers and that they were bent on ending his life. "I did not have any money on me and they knew it. But one of the thugs known as Habimana kept on hitting me with a club. The thugs later on cut me with a machete,” Rubasika, who is nursing deep machete wounds said.Rubasika is a resident of Kagarama village. Minister Mukabaramba, who took time to talk to each patient, castigated the acts of robbery."I am surprised that apart from taking your money and other property, they were determined to kill you. It is disheartening to see that we still have people involved in such inhuman acts. None of them will go scot-free.

They need heavy punishment, as a future deterrent to potential criminals in society,” she said.Mukabaramba also urged district leadership to assist the injured, particularly those without medical insurance to access treatment.