Armed robber kills driver of Yutong bus; escort police retaliates

Sunyani, Aug 1, GNA - A suspected armed robber was on Friday night sho= t to death by an escort policeman on a Yutong passenger bus travelling from Sunyani to Accra at Nsuta, near Bechem, when he killed the driver in a robbery attempt. Two of his six accomplices have been arrested and are in Police custody.

Chief Inspector Christopher Tawiah, Brong Ahafo Regional Police Public Relations Officer, briefing the Ghana News Agency in Sunyani said at about midnight, seven suspected armed robbers mounted a road block with logs at Nsuta on the Kumasi-Sunyani trunk road.

He said the robbers stopped the bus with registration number GC 5149 and ordered the driver, Isaac Adesi, 43, to surrender all the money on him. The Police PRO said two of the robbers stood in front of the bus to prevent it from moving whilst one of them entered the bus and threatened to shoot the driver if he refused to yield to their request. In the process, the deceased robber believed to be a Fulani, (but yet to be named) shot the driver at point blank with a locally manufactured pistol but he was also instantly shot by the escort policeman. Chief Inspector Tawiah said Osumanu Abudulai, 27, also a Fulani, who entered the bus with a cutlass to attack the passengers, was also shot by the policeman but he took to his heels.

The PRO said at that point the remaining robbers, realizing the presence of a policeman, fled into the bush. The police escort then called the Regional Command Information Room an= d a dispatch police team responded swiftly. He said the Patrol team with the Bechem Police subsequently arrested one of the robbers, Yaw Adu, 25, as he emerged from the bush. Osumani was also later arrested by the residents of a village near Nsuta and handed over to the Police when, with the gunshot wounds, he approached someone to direct him to the roadside.

Chief Inspector Tawiah said the two suspects had been sent to the Regional Police Headquarters to assist in investigations whilst the bodies of the driver and the robber had been deposited at the Bechem Mortuary. He appealed to the public to volunteer information leading to the arrest of the remaining four suspects and called on parents to report any bad conduct of their wards to the Police before they become a nuisance to society.