Thirty-nine suspected armed robbers have been arrested by the Ashanti Regional Police Command over the past one week, for their alleged involvement in criminal activities within the Kumasi metropolis.
Items retrieved from the suspects included pistols, live cartridges, laptops, assorted mobile phones, knives and cash.
The suspects include 32-year-old Ibrahim Tanko, aka Joe, who, together with three others now at large, allegedly robbed a house at Atimatim Maase, held the househelp at knife point and raped her in turns in a nearby bush.
Briefing the press in Kumasi yesterday, the Ashanti Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Mr Kofi Boakye, said after raping the house help, the suspects abandoned her and escaped.
He said the house help later identified Tanko, a former houseboy in the same house, to the landlord, leading to Tanko�s arrest.
Among the suspects are three young men who stabbed Francis Owusu, a cobbler, on the head at Pampaso after robbing him of GH�70.
Luck, however, eluded them, as a police patrol team appeared on the scene and arrested them.
They are Sumaila Jibril, 19; Kwakye Owusu, 20; and Osei George, 16.
Mr Boakye said around 3 p.m. on April 4, Agnes Boakye, a mobile banker with the Presbyterian Co-operative Credit Union at Asawasi and resident of Sepe Timpom, was on her routine collection of susu from customers when, on reaching a spot at Asawasi, she was suddenly attacked with a machete and a pair of scissors by Jamal Habibu, 21; Abdul Aziz Abass, 19, and Baba Oruma, now at large.
He said they snatched Agnes�s susu-collecting bag which contained GH�608.50, two mobile phones, an umbrella and two exercise books, all valued at GH�1,000.
Mr Boakye said the victim raised an alarm and Habibu and Abass were arrested at the Serwaa Nyarko Senior High School, near Dichemso.
A search conducted on them revealed the snatched bag with its contents.
The suspects have since been put before the Kumasi circuit court and remanded in police custody.
The Regional Commander said violent crimes were becoming very rampant in the metropolis but assured the public that the service was on the heels of the perpetrators.
He said the criminals might succeed in escaping arrest but warned them: �You can run but you can�t hide.�
Mr Boakye appealed to the public to volunteer information to the police on the activities of criminals and pledged to protect anyone who volunteered information.
He said the command was currently pursuing one suspected criminal, known only as Wassiwu, whom he described as a very dangerous criminal and urged the public to alert the police whenever they saw him.
He said Wassiwu was suspected to be hiding at Aboabo and its environs.
Mr Boakye said as part of the measures to combat violent crimes in the metropolis, the command had called for reinforcement from Accra to shore up its men.
It has also received two armoured vehicles to aid it in its fight against crime.
<<Print>>