A man believed to be in his late thirties was lynched at Ashaiman New Town on Monday after he attempted to rob an MTN sales point at gun point.
He was in the company of two others during the robbery operation but he was not lucky, as he was grabbed by an angry mob and subsequently beaten and set on fire.
The robber, who gave his name as Romeo, claimed to be a resident of Kasoa Barrier in the Central Region. A Nigerian gang member who resides at Ashaiman Tulaku barrier, according to the deceased, gave information about the sales point.
A security man, sales personnel and a customer were held hostage by the robbers at the sales point, which had recently experienced two separate robberies, with the robbers taking away thousands of Ghana Cedis.
The robbers demanded money and other valuables, while one waited in a blue-black Toyota Corolla saloon car in front of the sales point, after they had entered the place at about 8:30 am under the pretext of transacting business.
Linda Asamoah, a sales attendant, was in the inner chamber of the sales point which had been divided into two with glass. This prevented the robbers from entering where the money was being kept.
Linda made a quick phone call to a friend nearby who promptly raised an alarm which attracted the crowd.
The driver of the get-away car, sensing danger, drove off, leaving his colleagues in the office block, upon hearing the alarm. However, one of the robbers managed to jump on top of the bonnet of the vehicle and fled with the driver.
While escaping, the driver fired shots, with a bullet hitting a glass door of another shop. Luck however eluded Romeo, who was not able to catch up quickly with the vehicle, as he was pursued by the mob after he took to his heel from the sales point until he was apprehended.
He was subjected to severe beatings with clubs, metals, golf bats and cement blocks among other implements before finally being set ablaze and left to burn in the middle of the street.
Romeo however managed to roll over his body until the fire went out while bleeding profusely, mostly from his head. The incident attracted hundreds of persons who thronged the scene to either unleash their anger on the suspect or catch a glimpse of the deceased after he was killed.
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