Three Killed Over Galamsey Booty

Three persons, including two Chinese illegal miners, were last Monday killed in separate shooting incidents in the Wassa area of the Western Region. In one of the incidents, a misunderstanding between two Chinese over the sharing of money resulted in the younger one pulling a pump action gun and shooting his older compatriot to death. The other incident involved an armed attack on Chinese illegal mining sites, which led to the death of a Ghanaian and a Chinese. Briefing the media in Sekondi, the Western Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP), Mr Kofi Boakye, said last Monday, a 31-year-old Chinese, Qui-li Chuan, pulled a pump action gun and shot his older compatriot, Qui-qi Sheng, 50, killing him instantly, during an argument that ensued between them over the sharing of proceeds from their mining operations. He said in the second incident, there was a reported case of an attack on Chinese illegal miners at their mining site in the Nkronua Forest, ostensibly to rob them of their gold. He said two indigenes yet to be identified, armed with machetes and other offensive objects, attacked and snatched a Nissan pick-up, with registration number GM 546-12, belonging to the Chinese. Mr Boakye said the two attackers robbed the Chinese of six mobile phones, two passports, a quantity of gold and an undisclosed amount and sped off in the pick-up. He said one of the Chinese, whose name was given only as Li, then chased the two in another vehicle. According to Mr Boakye, the Chinese fired into the Nissan pick-up when he caught up with the robbers, killing one instantly and injuring the other. The third incident happened at Mahem, near Wassa Akropong, where a group of five young men attacked a mining site and shot a Chinese, Lian Chan Li, 51, as a result. The robbers, he said, managed to escape after they had deflated the tyres of the Toyota Tundra and Hilux vehicles belonging to the Chinese galamsey operators, after robbing them of their gold. One of the robbers, Richard Tawiah, 19, was later arrested, but the other four are currently at large, he added.