Cape Coast May 18, GNA- The police at Mankessim at dawn on Thursday, arrested three armed robbers, who reportedly attacked, molested and robbed passengers of an Accra bound Nissan Urvan bus of 21,630 million cedis on the Mankessim -Accra highway. They are Kwakwo Gyebi, 36, who is described by the police as leader of the gang, Kwesi Boakye, 27 and Alhassan Adamu, 32. Briefing the press in Cape Coast, in the presence of the driver of the bus, Mr Stephen Essuman, the Central Regional Police Commander, Mrs Rose Bio-Atinga, said the armed robbers boarded the vehicle with other passengers at Mankessim around 0340 hours, supposedly to travel to Accra.

According to Mrs Bio-Atinga, two of them occupied the front seat while the third sat directly behind the driver, and that after the vehicle had passed the bridge at Ekumfi-Swedru, on the highway, Gyebi, who was sitting behind the driver, pulled the driver's shirt, shot him in the shoulder from behind and ordered him to stop the vehicle. She said while this was going on, Boakye and Adamu, were also robbing the passengers, at gun point, with the vehicle still in motion, and at certain points ordered the female passengers to take off their panties for them to ascertain if they had hidden any monies there. The regional police commander said afterwards, the three men, pushed their victims from the vehicle, and fled in it, but the vehicle got broke down at Krofu, a village not far from the bridge. Mrs Bio-Atinga said the injured driver, together with the passengers, managed to get back to Mankessim where they reported the matter to the police who mobilized a search party from nearby villages, to look for the robbers.

She said Gyebi, was found hiding in a bush near where the vehicle had boken down, and he showed the search party where Adamu and Boakye were hiding and they were also arrested. She said the money, a locally manufactured revolver, an imported pistol, a bottle of Madras Drug, which she suspected the robbers, may have taken to gain courage, two masks and one Sony Erickson mobile phone were retrieved from them. Mrs Bio-Atinga said one of the passengers, known as Sister Marie, who was brutally assaulted for refusing to hand over her money, is now on admission at the Saltpond hospital. The Regional Commander commended the people of Abura- Asanfu and, Kwaman, who helped in arresting the three, for their support, and called on the public to support the police in uprooting crime from the society.

She announced that the three men would be put before court on Friday.