Three persons appeared before a circuit court at Akim Swedru for allegedly stealing 22 car batteries, valued at 4,400 Ghana Cedis .

Kofi Adu, a painter, Kwabena Obeng, unemployed, and Paul Sackey, were charged with four counts of unlawful entry, conspiracy to commit crime, stealing and dishonestly receiving,

Adu and Obeng pleaded not guilty to the charges, and were remanded in prison custody to reappear on March 28.

However, Sackey pleaded not guilty to dishonestly receiving and was granted 2,000 Ghana Cedis-bail, with one surety to justify.

Police Detective, Inspector Kwaku Appiah told the court presided over by Mr. Yaw Atta Sampong that the complainant, Mr. Alex Owusu, a trader, deals in car batteries and other vehicle parts.

The prosecution said last month Mr Owusu detected that, his shop had been broken into and 22 car batteries were stolen.

Insp. Appiah said Mr. Owusu reported the matter to the police, leading to the arrest of Adu, who said Obeng was part of the syndicate.

The prosecution said police investigations revealed that Adu and other persons had broken into shops at Akim Oda and stolen wares .

Insp. Appiah told the court that Obeng denied that he received car batteries from Adu, but said he (Obeng) rather received a DVD player from Adu.

The prosecution said Sackey dismissed the allegations made by Adu and Obeng, who live in the same house at Akim Oda.

Insp. Appiah said investigations revealed that Adu stole the batteries and gave them to Obeng.**