Notorious armed robber gunned down

A notorious armed robber who has been on the police wanted list for 11 years was gunned down yesterday when he opened fire on police personnel who were sent to effect his arrest.

The deceased, who bears several names – Kwame Sarfo, Osei Kwesi, among others, is said to have been responsible for so many robberies in Teshie and its environs.

The Accra Regional Police Commander, ACP Timothy Bonga, briefing the press about the incident, stated that yesterday morning at about 10am, the police had a tip-off that the deceased was lodging in a hotel at Teshie, where he was planning another attack.

According to him, upon receiving the information, an eight-man team, led by the Teshie District Police Commander, DSP Peter Yembilla, proceeded to the said location.

On their arrival at the hotel, the armed robber, who was about to leave the hotel, on spotting the police, tried to escape amidst firing. The police returned fire and he was hit by a bullet.

A search conducted on him and in his hotel room, where he lodged for the past three months, revealed one locally manufactured pistol, two big sledge hammers and substances suspected to be Indian hemp.

The others are a bank withdrawal slip with a face value of GHC100 bearing the name Shaibu Issah, a mobile phone and credit cards, one of them bearing the name Mary Afia Pokua.

Further investigations revealed that in 2005 while the deceased was in detention at the Nungua Police Station, he broke cells and caused the escape of five other inmates, which led to the reduction in rank the then chief inspector on duty.

The police noted that the suspect has been in the said hotel for months and has been planning robbery operations from there without anyone noticing.

ACP Bonga seized the opportunity to advise hotel managers and individuals in similar services to observe and take notice of people who lodge in their facilities and report the least suspicious movement they notice to the police.

The body has since been deposited at the police morgue.