Kumasi, Sept. 18, GNA - Fifteen out of 19 suspected criminals rounded up at Yelwa, Sawaba, Akwatia-Line and Aboabo Number One, all in Kumasi during a combined military cum police dawn swoop in August this year, were on Thursday remanded by a circuit court in Kumasi. Their pleas were not taken and will re-appear on September 22.

Four other persons, Atta Rafiq, Atta Hafiz, Nasir Mohammed and Faisal Al-Hassan, who pleaded not guilty were each granted 10 million cedis bail with two sureties to be justified and will also re-appear on September 22. The 15 whose plea was not taken included Abdul Razak, Ali Nuhu, Sani Mohammed, Adamu Ibrahim, Nurudeen Mohammed, Iduni Mohammed, Elis Abass, Gazali Saliu and Moubarak Osman. The rest were Yaw Kwarteng, Prince Adu, Ali Abdulai, Osman Mohammed, Ibrahim Cisse and Esther Owusu.

Police Chief Inspector Agnes Dinkyini told the court presided over by Mr K. Essel-Mensah that intelligence report gathered by the National Security Council indicated that the accused persons were among a group of criminals in the metropolis who were on the wanted list of the police. She said a team of security personnel from Accra in collaboration with their counterparts in Kumasi was detailed to mount surveillance and arrest the accused persons from their hideouts.

Chief Inspector Dinkyini said the security personnel swooped on the suspected criminals, arrested them and retrieved some knives, pistols and locally manufactured single-barrel guns, masks and a large quantity of dried leaves suspected to be Indian hemp, which had been sent to the Police Forensic Laboratory for examination.