Police pose as buyers to arrest car thieves

Aflao, Feb. 10, GNA - Police personnel at Nogokpo on Friday posed as interested buyers of a Hyundai taxi cab and arrested three persons suspected to have stolen the car from Madina in Accra. Mustapha Mohammed, 23, Kasim Rashid, 21 and Shaibu Iddrisu, 20, the suspects are all from Nima 441.

Two others, one Suraj, driver, also based at Nima said to be the architect of the plan and Agbosika, a native of Nogokpo, who came with the three to his village looking for a buyer, are on the run. Mr Ahmed Issah Yakubu, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) in charge of Aflao Police, told the GNA that about three weeks ago, the owner of the newly bought car with registration number GX 7924 Y employed Suraj as driver.

He said Suraj after working with the car for a few days expressed disinterest in the job, prompting the owner, one Ibrahim Ali, to take the car back to his base at Madina. Mr Yakubu said Suraj duplicated the key while he was driving the car and sneaked into the owner's house at Madina with the three at dawn that Friday to drive it away.

He said Mohammed, Rashid and Shaibu, were joined by Agbosika and they drove in the car to a fitting shop at Nogokpo to look for a buyer. Mr Yakubu said to avoid suspicion; Suraj did not come with his accomplices but went back to his base at Nima. He said while the group was looking for a buyer, the police who had been hinted, posed as interested buyers and during negotiations arrested the three, but Agbosika, who sensed danger on the stroke of time escaped into a nearby bush. Mr Yakubu said the police were in contact with the owner of the car and were conducting further investigations, while pursuing Agbosika and Suraj who was said to have vacated his Nima residence. He said the three would be put before court for conspiracy and stealing.