Farmer remanded for stealing mobile phone

Eric Kwasi Asante, a farmer, has been remanded by a district magistrate's court at Kade for stealing a mobile phone valued GHC 200. Asante, who pleaded not guilty, would re-appear before court on November 26. Police Inspector D.T. Nartey told the court that the complainant, Afua Obenewaa was a trader and Asante a member of a cocoa spraying gang at Akyem Takyimang. He said in March this year, the complainant's mobile phone got missing at her shop and in the course of an investigation, the complainant had a tip off from his friend that he saw Paa Yaw in possession of the phone. Insp Nartey told the court that Paa Yaw said that the phone was given to him to delete to delete pictures on it. He said that a witness in the case informed the Police during an investigation that in March the accused brought a Nokia camera phone to him so that he could delete pictures on it. Insp Nartey said the witness claimed that as he was deleting the pictures, he said the picture of the complainant, her husband and a family member on the phone and handed the phone back to the accused. Prosecution said Asante was later arrested by Police and during a search conducted in his room the phone was retrieved. The complainant later went to the Police station and identified the phone as his own Asante in a caution statement to the Police claimed that he bought the phone from two young men at a drinking spot but could not identify them.