Police mount search for robbers

Accra, Nov 16, GNA - The Police have mounted a search for a group of armed men who rob persons of their vehicles at gunpoint in the Accra metropolis.

Briefing the press in Accra on Tuesday, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Mr Jonathan Yakubu said the police had retrieved five vehicles abandoned by these robbers at Zodiac at Dansoman, Awudome Roundabout and Korle-Bu during the week.

The vehicles, four Opel Astra and one Alpha Romeo, had the following registration numbers - GW 8548 W, GE 4075 W, ER 2093 U, GR 215 U and GT 1498 S. He said the modus operandi of these robbers included wearing mourning clothes to outwit their victims and urged the public to be wary of them.

Mr Yakubu, who is also the Deputy Regional Commander, said the car of one of the victims, Mr Seidu Iddrisu, was snatched between Awudome Roundabout and North Kaneshie.

He said three men dressed in mourning clothes hired him from Russia to Bubuashie at about 2130 hours.

However, when they reached Bubuashie one of the robbers told Iddrisu that his girlfriend was waiting for him at a spot near Big Boss Restaurant and he should drive to that place.

ACP Yakubu said they met a woman at the spot and one of the robbers alighted to talk to her while the two others waited in the vehicle. These two men then attacked him and ordered him to surrender his car and all the money on him.

He said Iddrisu struggled with them but he was overpowered and his car and 900,000 cedis taken away from him. ACP Yakubu said the vehicle had since been retrieved at Korle Bu, opposite Mobil Filling station.

In another incident, Mr Samuel Ashily who was driving an Alpha Romeo car was robbed of the car and 400,000 cedis at about 2000 hours at gunpoint at Zodiac at Dansoman in Accra.

ACP Yakubu said the armed men who were in masks were using a Nissan Sunny car. The victim's car was later abandoned at Dansoman. ACP Yakubu asked drivers, especially "floating taxi drivers" to be wary of undesirable elements in the city and be security conscious. He said most of these vehicles that had been stolen were normally used in robbery cases and abandoned or were sold.

He said most robbers now use Opel Astra because they are fast. 16 Nov. 05