AN ANGRY mob yesterday descended heavily on three suspected robbers who attempted to snatch a taxi cab from its owner, killing two of them instantly at Adenta Frafraha, near Accra.

A third suspect, who survived the beatings of the rampaging mob, was handed over to the Adenta District police.

The dead, who were both said to be truck pushers at Kaneshie, have since been identified as Alex Gyamfi, 19, a native of Kwahu and Kwesi Lartey, 23, from Akuapim in the Eastern region. Amos Asante aka Nana Osei, 26, the surviving suspect, who claimed to be a farmer in Obuasi in the Ashanti region, is with the police for further investigations.

Briefing Daily Guidw, the commander in charge of the Adenta District Police, DSP Stephen K. Ahiatafu, said the driver of the Toyota Corolla taxi with registration number GS 8859 -11, was hired by the three young men from Circle overhead to Adenta.

Upon reaching Adenta Old Barrier, one of the suspects asked the driver to move towards the Dodowa road. After covering a distance and close to the Grace Filling Station, the suspects asked the driver to branch right towards a rough road.

A few metres away, through the rough road, Kwasi Lartey allegedly grabbed the driver by the neck, attempting to strangulate him.

The taxi driver (name withheld) immediately stopped the vehicle and tried to free himself from the deadly grip of his assailant. Suspect Alex Gyamfi, sitting in the front passenger’s seat, then pushed the driver out of the car and took control of the steering wheel.

After an attempt by Alex to restart the ignition failed, the driver picked a big stone to hit him in the head while screaming for help. Some residents and passers-by, who heard the distress call and saw the on-going scuffle, rushed to the scene to rescue the driver.

However, the suspects, upon seeing the approaching mob, fled but were given a hot chase by residents of the area. Luck eluded the two suspects, who were lynched instantly by the mob. Amos Asante was rescued after receiving severe beatings by the mob. When police personnel got to the scene, the two suspected robbers were gasping for breath as they lay naked on the ground.

The three were handed over to the police but the two soon passed away. Preliminary investigations at the scene revealed that the dead suspects were truck pushers from Kaneshie.

The suspects, before their death, said Amos Asante hired them from Kaneshie to help him embark on an operation which would fetch them a lot of money. The two, according to the Adenta Police Commander, died shortly after confession.

Meanwhile, Asante is currently in police custody.

The driver of the taxi who also sustained various degrees of injuries has been sent to the hospital while the police have impounded the taxi pending investigations.

“I appreciate what residents did by handing over the living suspect to the police. I will urge them not to result to instant justice as the best way for punishing criminals but hand them over to the police,” DSP Ahiatafu.