VICTIMS IDENTIFY ROBBERS AT MANPONG (MIRROR, PAGE 29)

From George Ernest Asare,
Mampong Ashanti

About 10 victims of armed robbery attacks from the Mampong Municipality have been able to identity their attackers during an identification parade held at the Divisional Command at Mampong.
Among the suspects identified were Razak Achilu, 22, Alim Yao, 20, Kadir Adam,25, Muhammad Yusif 27 and Manzil Alhassan, 19.
The suspects who were arrested in their hideouts after attacking their victims and robbing them at gun points, were alleged to have belonged to a notorious armed robbery gang that had been terrorising residents at Yeji, Ejura, Atebubu and Techiman.
They were arrested following a tip-off by some concerned citizens. Items retrieved from them included a locally manufactured pistol, two unregistered motor bikes, two life ammunitions and a voodoo made up of a bull horn with feathers, empty shells, a whisk and calabash with 13 cowries.
Also found in the voodoo were two talisman, a waistband, a jaw of an unidentified animal with Arabic inscriptions, two pairs of scissors, a black mask, four containers of empty perfumes, as well as a “tasbii” packed in a red bag.
The items, together with the suspects, are in police custody pending further investigations.
The Mampong Divisional Police Commander, Chief Superintendent Edward Oduro Kwarteng, who briefed The Mirror on the arrest, said the suspects who use unregistered motorbikes for their operations, wounded three of their victims, including a lady at Ejura.
 He said the lady died from the wounds at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital when she was sent for medical care.
He gave the assurance that the police would not only continue to combat the armed robbers and prosecute them, but would also provide the requisite security to law abiding citizens for them to carry out their economic ventures in a peaceful and harmonious manner.
He, therefore, appealed to the public to offer the police useful information that could lead to the arrest of suspected criminals.
Explaining how the suspects were arrested, Chief Superintendent Oduro Kwarteng said following series of complaints about their activities in areas such as Atebubu, Yeji, Techiman and Ejura, the police decided to monitor their movement and swooped on them in their hideout at Yeji where six of the suspects were identified and arrested.