Crime & Punishment of Friday, 17 August 2018

Source: ghananewsagency.org

Court remands four suspected armed robbers in Tarkwa

The suspects are currently in police custody The suspects are currently in police custody

A Tarkwa Circuit Court has remanded four suspected armed robbers into prison custody, for allegedly robbing three Chinese nationals of their property worth GHC47.700.

Nana Owusu 22, Alexander Kwadwo 27, both illegal miners, Kwabena Ali 25, farmer, and Gideon Hetaka, a 27-year-old driver, pleaded not guilty and are to re-appear in Court on Tuesday August 28.

Prosecuting, Detective Inspector Clement Amoah, told the Court presided over by Mr Emmanuel Bart-Plange Brew that, on August 2, 2018, at about 2:00 am, the police patrol team in Tarkwa received a distressed call that armed robbers had attacked some Chinese at 'Mohammed Brothers Small Scale Mining Site' at Efuanta, a suburb of Tarkwa.

He said when the police arrived, the victims informed them that armed robbers had invaded their site, subjected them to severe torture and made away with their eight pieces of gold valued at GHC40,000.00, 32 inches flat screen television valued at GHC1,500.00, one alijua decoder valued at GHC200.00 and three iPhone valued at GHC6,000.00

The patrol team then informed their counterparts at the snap check duty at Tamso Junction to assist in apprehending the accused persons.

Detective Inspector Amoah said few minutes later, the police at Tamso Junction intercepted a Mazda Demio Taxi cab with registration number GX 5197-14 driven by one Stephen Nyame with Hetaka, Ali, and Owusu on board.

A search conducted on them revealed five pieces of small balls of gold concealed in polythene sachet and white papers after which the police patrol team conveyed them to the Tarkwa Police Station for interrogation.

He said the same day, at about 3:30 am, Cheng Wehua and Hu Jang with bruises all over their bodies reported the incident to the police and identified the suspects as those who had robbed them.

Medical forms were issued to the victims to seek medical attention.

Inspector Amoah said at about 9:00 am on that same day, police intelligence led to the arrest of Alexander Kwadwo and one of the stolen iPhone belonging to Hu Jang was retrieved from him at the Tarkwa Railway station.

The accused persons admitted the offence and mentioned suspects Francis, Abu, Wisdom and Solomon now at large as their accomplices.

He said the accused persons also led the police to a thicket close to the site where the robbery took place and the Hisense television and decoder were retrieved.

Meanwhile, the prosecution said efforts were being made to arrest the suspects who were on the run.