Police makes significant arrests in recent armed robbery cases

The Accra Regional Police announced Friday that they had arrested one suspect in connection with the daylight robbery that occurred at Royal Motors at the North Industrial Area in Accra, on Tuesday.

The robbers made away with some unspecified amount of cedis after attacking the workers.

The suspect, popularly known as Bebe, was reportedly apprehended by the Police at a hide-out at Ashalaja, a suburb of Accra.

Deputy Commissioner of Police, George Alex Mensah, the Regional Commander who announced this at a media conference, on Friday, also said two armed robbery suspects on the Police’s ‘Most Wanted’ list had been gunned down in a shoot-out at an undisclosed location.

The two, Raymond and Kwame alias Mafia, the police say, were wanted for crimes at a filling station at Agbogba, some break-ins at Forex Bureaus at Spintex. Raymond, alias Dragon, is also suspected to have participated in the Kwabenya Police Station attack that freed seven inmates, the Commander said.

“Dragon has also been linked to robberies at Oyibi where 16 robberies have been recorded in a month,” he said.

According to DCOP George Mensah, one police officer sustained a gunshot wound in his palm. However, his men fought back and killed the two. "I am not ready to lose any of my men," he said in defence of the application of lethal, fatal force.

He also said two suspects had been arrested in Accra after they snatched cars in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region.

Police officers feigned interest in buying the cars which had been brought to Accra for sale, he said.

The revelations are the latest in Operation Calm Life, a Police Operation to clamp down on criminal activities, following a dramatic escalation in the month of January alone.

On Wednesday, some armed robbers attacked and killed a Lebanese cashier, who had gone to cash some 200,000 cedis from a bank and made away with the money. However, the Government has assured Ghanaians that it would resource the Police Service to give of their best.

Yesterday, the IGP announced changes in 11 Command positions in the Service as part of efforts to ensure law and order.