Two men suspected to be armed robbers were reportedly shot dead by a police officer at Asankare in the Ashanti Region while they were trying to escape after allegedly stealing GHC580,000 at the office of a cocoa buying company during the Easter celebration.

The suspects were purportedly shot dead from behind through a window by the police Lance Corporal who had entered into the bedroom of someone following exchange of bullets after a hot chase.

The Konongo Divisional Police Commander, Superintendent Ohene Boadi Bossman, said the suspected robbers stormed the office of a purchasing clerk of the cocoa buying company with a pump action gun and a pistol and made away with the cash meant for the payment of workers’ salaries.

He narrated that the purchasing clerk had just returned from the bank with GH?580,000 to begin the payment when the robbers, who were riding a motorbike, emerged with the guns.

Superintendent Bossman told Joy Fm that the suspects ordered the workers to leave, entered into the office of the purchasing clerk and pointed a gun at his head before taking the money away in a bag through the Bompata road.

He disclosed that the Lance Corporal, upon learning about the incident, pursued the robbers with a Land Cruiser.

The police commander continued that the suspects then jumped into a taxi after one of the tyres of their motorbike got burst in the process. But the fear-stricken cabbie drove the car into a ditch and attempted to flee from the scene upon sensing danger. However, the robbers shot and killed him instantly.

Burnt on escaping from arrest, the robbers subsequently stopped another taxi at gunpoint and ordered the occupants to get out. One of them took control of the steering as they held the driver hostage and sped off.

The brave cop, who had closed in on them, then fired through the window of the taxi, destabilizing the driver who then rammed the vehicle into a nearby house amidst exchange of fire.

Supt Bossman said it was during the exchange of fire that the cop dashed into someone’s room and shot the duo from behind.

Their bodies had since been conveyed to a morgue, waiting further investigation, he added.