Magic charms fails suspected robber

Mampong (Ash), March 24, GNA - A 26-year suspected armed robber at Ehiawoanwu near Asante-Mampong, who believed he had a magic charm that could shield his body from bullets and therefore dared a friend to fire at him, ended up a dead man.

Awal Baba dropped dead when his colleague Alhaji Tanko shot at him with a locally manufactured pistol on Tuesday, March 23. The two had locked themselves up in a room of one Baba Issahaku Abubakari at about 1300 hours in his absence to test the potency of their juju.

Tanko and Abubakari are now being held by the Asante-Mampong police. Police Chief Superintendent Oduro Kwateng, the Asante-Mampong Divisional Commander, told the Ghana News Agency, that they found the deceased in a pool of blood with a talisman, calabashes and other strange-looking items tied around the neck and waist. Tanko had reported to them that Awal had killed himself but preliminary investigations had established that the two engaged in the ritual of shooting at each other anytime they were about to mount a robbery operation. He said The Police are continuing with investigations. Awal's body had been deposited at the Mampong hospital mortuary.