103 suspected criminals arrested by the Police

Following a five-day swoop, the Accra Regional Police Command has arrested 103 suspected criminals, including six persons on the police wanted list.

The special operations carried out under the supervision of the various divisional commanders under the Accra Regional Command involved the raiding of the dens of suspected criminals at night and dawn for five consecutive days from last Saturday.

Among the suspects were four persons who the police described as hardened criminals who had been terrorising the residents of Amasaman.

Two notorious robbers who had been on the police wanted list for more than three years and three women were also among those who were arrested.

Items retrieved from the dens included weapons, charms, large quantities of dried leaves suspected to be Indian hemp, with some wrapped in pieces of paper like toffees.

Weapons

Briefing journalists yesterday, the Accra Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Mr Christian Tetteh Yohuno, described the operation as a success in the fight against crime.

He said the swoops would be sustained to enable the police to win the fight against crime in the region.

The names of the suspected criminals who were allegedly terrorising residents of Pokuase, Amasaman and Katapor and its environs were Ezekiel Siaw, 34, a fuel station attendant; Samuel Odame, 28, a driver; Frank Amponsah, 33, a mechanic, and another who was identified as Samuel Divie.

The four, according to Mr Yohuno, were arrested in a Nissan Extera four-wheeled drive vehicle after they had invaded Katapor, near Amasaman in Accra where they fired gunshots indiscriminately over land litigation.

Weapons found on them included a pump action gun with 17 rounds of live ammunition and eight empty shells, 9mm pistols with six rounds of live ammunitions and two empty cartridges.

The police also retrieved a pinch bar, machetes and an axe.

He said the four suspects, believed to have acted as land guards during the day and armed robbers during the night, had clashed with some residents over land litigation a day before their arrest.

Kpeshie robberies

At Kpeshie, two other notorious robbers on the police wanted list identified as Adabire Macdey, alias Booby, a student, and Sowah Simon, a mason, were arrested during the swoop.

The police retrieved from them two pistols - foreign and locally manufactured weapons - and charms.

Two other accomplices identified as Ernest Atani, alias Dzidzo, and Botey Sanza, are on the run, and the police have mounted a manhunt to arrest them.