Blood Stains Betray Suspected Armed Robber

The vigilance of mechanics at a workshop at the Tamale industrial area led to the arrest of a suspected armed robber by the Tamale police. The suspect, 21-year-old driver, Mahamadu Kwadwo, was arrested at Bayawaya, a suburb of Tamale, following information police received from the mechanics that there were blood stains on the vehicle the suspect had brought to them for repairs.

Briefing newsmen, Police Chief Superintendent Alhaji Ismail Saakah said Kwadwo recently drove a Tico car with registration number G.T. 2469 S to the workshop for repairs. When the mechanics were about to carry out the repair works they saw some blood stains on the vehicle.

The discovery aroused their suspicion that the suspect might be an armed robber, and realising that he was under suspicion he moved the car from the workshop to an unknown destination. The mechanics tipped off the police, who mounted a search for him and arrested him at a hideout at Bayawaya.

Chief Superintendent Saakah said when Kwadwo was arrested and interrogated he denied sending any car to the workshop. However, a second informant told the police that the car was seen at Kwadwo’s elder brother’s house at Kalinka village, near Tamale.

Just as the police were about to go to Kalinka to verify, his brother, Alpha Seidu Amadu, who was becoming apprehensive about the car, reported to the police that Kwadwo had left a car in his house.

Police learnt that one Osei Fosu was driving between Techiman and Kintampo in the Brong-Ahafo Region sometime this month when he saw the suspect on the road, rolling a car tyre. The suspect stopped him and asked for a lift to a nearby village as his vehicle had broken down on the road. Fosu obliged to pick him and charged him ?20,000.

On their way, Kwadwo pulled a locally manufactured pistol and shot at Fosu, injuring one of his fingers. Chief Superintendent Saakah said Kwadwo pulled out Fosu, dumped him in a swampy valley and sped off.

The suspect, not satisfied, drove back to the spot where he had dumped his victim to kill him off. He said when Fosu saw the car approaching, he hid himself in the bush to prevent detection.

Chief Superintendent Saakah said after a fruitless search for his victim the suspect sped off towards Tamale. He said the police had not yet retrieved the weapon used by the suspect. The suspect would be transferred to the Brong-Ahafo Region to assist the police in their investigations