Robber dies in custody

Kwesi Mensah, believed to be the top hit-man of the gang of armed robbers who raided the Asante-Mampong agency of the Otuasekan Rural Bank last Thursday, is dead.

He died in police cells on Sunday night, according to the Ghanaian Times. Mensah was identified as the marksman who shot and killed Corporal Williams Kusi, one of the two policemen killed by the robbers during the broad daylight raid.

The other policeman, Constable G.W. Awere, on guard duty at the bank, was shot and killed by the robbers and his AK 47 rifle taken away. The weapon was later retrieved by the combined team of police, military and volunteers.

Mensah, from Winneba, was one of the six suspects who were arrested in connection with the robbery. The rest are Ibrahim Mohammed form the Afram Plains, Akwasi Asoma (Mprim), Daniel Kukuo (Jamasi), Omono Asamoah, (Kumasi) and Wofa Yaw (Fanti Nyankumasi).

According to police sources, Mensah sustained multiple cutlass wounds during a struggle with the team of police, military and residents of the town. His death brings to four, the number of robbers who have perished after the bloody robbery. The other three are yet to be identified

Sergeant Ofosu Addo of the 4th Battalion Infantry Workshop in Kumasi, is also helping the police in their investigation into the robbery. He is said to be the owner of the two vehicles, a Nissan Urvan bus, AS 2885D, and an Opel Omega, AS 4417R, suspected to have been used in the robbery.

About ?27 million out of nearly ?45 million stolen in the raid, was retrieved by the police and military in a joint operation.