Crime & Punishment of Monday, 27 April 2009

Source: GNA

Sunyani Police arrest suspected armed robbers

Sunyani, April 27, GNA - Two suspected armed robbers involved in an attack and robbery of passengers on board an Accra bus bound for Sunyani were arrested on Friday at Terchire in the Tano North District by a Sunyani Police patrol team.

The two, Fatawo Awudu, aged 21 and Abubakari Moro, a Fulani and 21 years old, are in police custody in Sunyani. They were part of six suspected armed robbers who attacked and robbed the passengers of their mobile phones and money. Briefing the press in Sunyani Superintendent of Police Charles Domanban, the Brong-Ahafo Regional Police Crime Officer, said the police are looking for the rest of the gang members. He mentioned their names as Alhassan, 21, Mumuni, 21, Yahaya, 24 and Tahiru 20 years.

The crime officer said the passengers left Accra for Sunyani at about 1800 hours on Thursday.

On reaching Terchire, a town near Duayaw Nkwanta at about 0100 hours, the driver saw that robbers had blocked the road with logs. He said when he attempted to move in-between the logs, one of the robbers appeared from the bush and ordered him to stop but he resisted until one of the front tyres was shot.

The crime officer said to avoid an accident, the driver stopped and the robbers entered the bus. They ordered the passengers to surrender their mobile phones as well as their monies and compelled them to move out of the bus and lay on the ground. He said a police patrol team had a tip off and moved to the scene but the four at large fled with some mobile phones and all the monies stolen whilst the two were arrested. Police retrieved a dagger and some mobile phones from them and they told police that they stayed at a place called Rasta Man Hotel at Atwima Koforidua near Abuakwa on the Kumasi/Sunyani road in the Atwima-Nwabiagya Ddistrict and had operated on the highways for about a year with locally-manufactured pistols.