Policeman Escapes Being Strangled

The Police in Kumasi have arrested a trotro driver for attempting to strangle a police officer who arrested him for a traffic offence.

The Police are also searching for the driver?s mate for his involvement in the crime.

After their arrest, the suspects, Richard Addae, believed to be in his mid 20s, who was driving a Nissan Urvan mini bus with registration number AS7361V was alleged to have conspired with his mate to resist arrest by strangling the police officer who was accompanying them in the vehicle to the MTTU office.

The two were arrested for picking passengers in the middle of the road and obstructing free flow of traffic. The Ashanti Regional Commander of the MTTU, Chief Superintendent Augustine Gyening, told the Graphic that three MTTU officers were on their usual routine checks early on Monday when they spotted Richard, allowing passengers to board the mini bus in the middle of the road, and also shouting to attract other passengers to join the vehicle.

This, he noted, ceased the free flow of traffic for sometime and also caused a lot of inconvenience to a lot of motorists.

This, Mr Gyening said, attracted the police officers and they quickly rushed to the spot.

He said the police arrested the driver for intentionally obstructing traffic and one of the police officers joined the vehicle with the intention of escorting it to the MTTU office. Mr Gyening said on their way to the MTTU office, Richard diverted the vehicle and rather drove to Mbrom, a Kumasi suburb which was far from their destination. He said when the police officer questioned why he (Richard) drove the vehicle to that vicinity, Richard responded by saying that he wanted them to talk things over. Mr Gyening said when the policeman insisted they drive to the MTTU office, the driver?s, mate removed the battery terminal from the battery and the vehicle halted but the policeman managed to fix the terminal and asked Richard to drive to the police station instead the driver sped off and drove towards a different direction close to the St Louis Training College area. Mr Gyening said, the driver?s mate who was then sitting behind the police officer held his neck and pressed it to the front seat making it difficult for him to breathe. The officer sensing danger also reacted immediately by holding the neck of the driver. This, the commander noted, forced the vehicle to come to an abrupt stop. In the ensuing confusion, Chief Superintendent Gyening said a pedestrian noticed the confrontation between the driver, his mate and the police officer and raised an alarm.

This, he said, attracted people to the scene who separated the three men and upon their request, the police officer heeded and handed over the keys of the vehicle to the driver.

He said the mate managed to abscond but two of the sympathisers one Alex and Gabriel Amponsah, accompanied the police officer and the driver to the MTTU office.

At the police station, Mr Gyening said the driver removed something from his pocket and threw it onto the floor.

He said the policemen on duty noticed what the driver had thrown a parcel onto the floor, and when it was opened, it was found to contain dried leaves suspected to be Indian hemp.

He said the substances had since been sent to the Police narcotics unit for investigations, while the driver would be arraigned before court after investigations.