Ho, Dec. 17, GNA - The Ho Police have mounted a search for two men who allegedly bought drinks with counterfeit cedi notes last week at a drinking bar near the OLA Secondary School and escaped arrest.

One was said to have escaped through the bush while the other wrestled out of the grips of the Bar Attendant, jumped onto his motorbike and absconded. Mr Kofi Duku Arthur, Volta Regional Police Commander, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on Tuesday that following a tip off on Monday December 10 that two men had paid for drinks with cash suspected to be fake the Ho District Police detailed two Policemen to the scene but the culprits escaped before they got there.

A total of 260,000 cedis in 20,000 and 10,000 cedi denominations, which were used to pay for the drinks are in the custody of the Police. All the 20,000 cedi notes bore the same serial number of EC2659067 while the number on the 10,000 cedi notes was DA692492.

The notes had no watermarks and the silvery vertical security thread appeared to have been made to look like the original with silver coloured paint markings.

Mr Arthur cautioned residents in and around Ho especially drinking bar operators and shop keepers to examine currencies used in making payments to them carefully. Asked if there had been similar cases lately, he said it was the first in a long while.