Two suspected armed robbers have been busted in Takoradi for robbing and maiming a currency dealer.

Bartholomew Jesse, also known as 'Ahow', and Bernard Azure, aged 24 and 25 respectively, are in the grips of the police for allegedly robbing and maiming the black market currency operator.

The sad incident occurred in Takoradi in the Western Region last Saturday.

The two, according to the police, allegedly robbed and inflicted machete wounds on the victim, identified as Haruna Umar.

"Before robbing him of huge sums of money, they inflicted him with machete wounds."

The police say the unfortunate incident occurred when Umar was riding his motorbike home after closing from work.

According to sources, after committing the alleged act, the robbers dumped the victim and his motorbike at Lagos Town bus stop on the Takoradi-Kwesimintsim road and bolted with the booty.

Confirming the story in an interview, ASP Olivia Ewurabena Adiku, Western Regional Police Public Relations Officer, explained that on Saturday, August 26, 2017 at about 7:30pm, one Matthew Kwaw went to report the incident to the police.

According to the complainant, he was on his way home from Takoradi to Asakae and, on reaching Lagos Town bus stop, saw a young man, about 40 years old, lying close to his motorbike with severe cutlass wounds.

Matthew Kwaw quickly rushed the victim to the Effia-Nkwanta Government Hospital for treatment. ASP Adiku added that the police also proceeded to the hospital after the report and met the victim at the theatre being attended to by doctors.

"Later, relatives of the victim visited the hospital and mentioned the victim's name as Haruna Umar, who is a black market currency operator", the Police PRO indicated.

ASP Adiku said that initial investigations into the case revealed that the victim's assailants trailed him from the Takoradi Market Circle, where the victim conducts his business, as he was carrying monies in various currencies.
"Due to the victim's condition at the hospital, he could not tell the police the specific amount he was carrying, and after examining the victim, it was revealed that there was a deep cut on his right hand and the head, and so police medical form was issued and photographs were taken", she revealed.

Arrest

Narrating how the suspects were arrested, ASP Adiku mentioned that on Sunday, August 27, at about 10am, the police in Kwesimintsim, near Takoradi, had information that two suspected armed robbers who allegedly robbed Haruna Umar had been arrested by the Cape Coast Police.

On receipt of the information, the police in Kwesimintsim proceeded to the Cape Coast Regional Police Headquarters and met the suspects and one Rose Gyedu, the mother of Bartholomew Jesse, who was allegedly given a portion of the stolen money.

"They were all arrested, and cash, the sum of GH?34,966, was retrieved from them, out of about GH?44,000 alleged to have been stolen", the police PRO noted.

She continued: "The suspects admitted the offence when they were interrogated by the Crime Officer at Cape Coast in the presence of their relatives".

She added that the suspects were later released to the Kwesimintsim Police for further investigations and action, adding that, at the moment, the suspects were in custody, together with the exhibit.

She pointed out that the police visited the victim, Haruna Umar, at the hospital yesterday and he was responding to treatment.

A black marketer beheaded

It would be recalled that on May 1, 2017, one Yakubu was also arrested for allegedly killing a 40-year-old currency dealer (black marketer) in Takoradi.

The deceased, Alhassan Zambrama, believed to be a Nigerian, was found beheaded in his room at East Tanokrom, near Takoradi, on May Day this year.

The suspect, Yakubu, was arrested at his hideout at Merelane in Liberia. He was later brought to Ghana to face the full rigorous of the law.