130 "Criminals" Arrested In Police/Military Swoop

A joint Military/Police team on Monday rounded a number of criminals during a special operation mounted at Avenor, Odawna and Sahara, near the Kwame Nkrumah Circle, all suburbs of Accra.

Among the suspects were armed robbers who were believed to have been involved in recent car-snatching and home robbery incidents. Quantities of dried leaves suspected to be Indian hemp, some military accoutrement and a large number of sheep, goats and cows were seized from their premises.

The Greater Accra Regional Police Commander, Superintendent Kofi Boakye, in an interview, said the operation, which was based on intelligence information, was also aimed at preventing the criminals from disturbing Accra’s residents during the Christmas holidays. He said the 130 suspects were picked after a positive screening was held for 1,800 suspected criminals who were arrested during the operation.

Supt. Boakye said the suspects will be interrogated individually and arraigned before court after an identification parade has been held. He, therefore, called on all those who have fallen victim to armed robbery to report at the Greater Accra Regional Police Command. Supt. Boakye said that the war on armed robbery declared by the Minister of Defence, Dr Kwame Addo-Kufour, has not ended.

He explained that it was temporarily halted in order to gather enough intelligence information on the operations and hideouts of the armed robbers for them to be rounded up.

He warned the public to be careful when driving, since the criminals have resorted to car-snatching. He said car-snatching is a hit-and-run crime which does not happen in the presence of security personnel and appealed to the public to collaborate with the police volunteering timely and accurate information for the criminals to be tracked down.

The General Officer Commanding the Southern Command, Brig. J.B. Danquah noted with regret the rapid springing up of unauthorised structures in the city, particularly around Avenor, Achimota Railways and Sahara. He appealed to the Accra Metropolitan Authority to check such developments. He also urged the Electricity Company of Ghana and the Ghana Water Company to desist from supplying such settlements with their services to discourage people from living in such areas. He said some of the connections to water and electricity supply has also been found to be illegally done. Brig. Danquah also warned those living in such unauthorized areas to quit before their structures are burnt down by the security agencies. He appealed to all law enforcement agencies as well as people in authority and the general public to help in the implementation of the law.

In another development, some tricksters who use pythons and other animals to defraud unsuspecting people have been arrested. According to a police source, the police are not going to tolerate such tricksters, adding that any such person will be arrested and dealt with according to the law.