Sunyani, Jan 14, GNA - The police in Sunyani on Wednesday embarked on a special exercise to arrest motor bike riders without licence, crash helmets and those using unregistered ones. Superintendent of Police Charles Botwe, Municipal Police Commander, told the GNA the police took the move to clamp down on the activities of mobile phone and bag snatchers and about 80 percent of such reported cases were carried out by persons using unregistered motor bikes. He said victims in such cases could not readily identify the motor bikes used because they did not have registration numbers, whilst others had fake or foreign numbers.

The police boss expressed concern about the alarming rate at which cases of mobile phones and bag snatching were reported in the municipality and gave the promise that the police would not relent in efforts in curbing such activities. Mr Botwe said it had come to the notice of the police that the snatchers operated mainly on market days and on Sundays on the road from Nana Bosoma market towards SSNIT and Fiapre. "Nine motor riders were arrested by the police in their operations and have been placed in custody and there will be no mercy for them. They will be charged and arraigned soon after their statements have been taken, to face the full rigours of the law as a deterrent to like-minded people."