A gang of armed robbers on Wednesday night attacked and robbed passengers travelling on more than nine vehicles on the Takoradi-Elubo road in the Western Region.
The robbers dispossessed the passengers, mostly traders, of various personal belongings and unspecified amounts of foreign and local currencies after subjecting them to severe beating.
After their operation, the robbers packed their booty into one of the cars they attacked, a Toyota caravan, and later abandoned the vehicle at Apimanim on the Tarkwa road.
The acting Western Regional Police Commander, Suprintendent Kwabena A. Oduro, who briefed the Graphic on the incident, said on the night of Wednesday, July 24, some armed robbers mounted road blocks with logs, on both sides of the road about four kilometres away from the Ghana Rubber Estate Plantation (GREL) on the Elubo road.
He said the robbers, who were in masks and carried guns, cutlasses, clubs and other offensive weapons, stopped about nine vehicles, smashed their windscreens and started firing indiscriminately.
He said they ordered the passengers to alight and harassed them before robbing them of their luggage and monies.
According to Supt. Oduro the operation which took about 30 minutes had most of the passengers severely beaten, others slashed with cutlasses while some were also ordered to lie on the ground.
He said one of the victims, who managed to flee the scene went to report the robbery to the Agona-Nkwanta Police who sent a wireless message to the regional headquarters for assistance.
Supt. Oduro said when the Police/Military Patrol Team got to the scene the armed robbers had fled but the victims told the team the direction the robbers went.
He said the patrol team who pursued the robbers spotted the Toyota Hiace Caravan with registration number, GW 463 R belonging to one of the victims, Osei Abraham, abandoned at Apimanim on the Tarkwa road.
According to the acting Regional Commander, the patrol team combed the whole area but could not see the robbers. He said so far no arrests have been made but serious efforts are being made to track down the robbers. Supt. Oduro said the patrol team found cartridges fired from shot guns at the scene where the passengers were attacked.
He said the police have not been able to know the exact amounts stolen from the victims since most of them have not reported to the police.
Supt. Oduro appealed to the public to be on the look out for any suspicious individuals and report them to the police.