<<Print>>

A soldier and his civilian accomplice are in the grip of the Accra Regional Police Command for their alleged involvement in a series of robberies. Corporal Jacob Lartey, 32, of the Base Ordnance of the Ghana Armed Forces, and his civilian accomplice, John Jeremy Quaicoo, 30, a shop attendant, are said to have posed as officials of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) to rob their victims. Police investigations showed that the two usually laid ambush near banks and other financial institutions where they harassed their victims and took money and various items from them. Facts The Accra Regional Crime Officer, Chief Superintendent of Police Mr Paul Kontomah, said the two suspects were arrested on November 29, 2014. He said on September 2, 2014, Corporal Lartey laid ambush at the General Post Office, near the Opera Square in Accra, and monitored the movement of customers who went to the building to withdraw money. About 1 p.m., Quaicoo arrived in a taxi and the two met an SHS graduate at the entrance of the post office and introduced themselves as officials from the BNI. The two were said to have told the complainant that he was under arrest for fraud, and that he would be escorted to the Burma Camp. �They forced the complainant to enter the waiting taxi and sped off,� Mr Kontomah said. Victim beaten He said when the taxi reached the 37 Military Hospital, the two ordered the driver of the taxi to stop and subjected the victim to severe beating. The suspects collected GH�5,500 and three mobile phones from the victim, after which they forced him out of the taxi and ordered the taxi driver to drive off. In another incident, the two were said to have used the same modus operandi to take GH�1,800 from a graphic designer on the Spintex Road. Mr Kontomah said the two forced the victim into a black Nissan saloon car belonging to Corporal Lartey and drove off to Korle Bu where they abandoned the victim. �Other victims are reporting similar incidents to the police but they are yet to identify the suspects,� he added.