Police grab two suspected bank robbers

Police have arrested two men alleged to be members of a gang of armed robbers, who attacked the Upper Amenfi Rural Bank at Jukwa near Wassa Akropong in the Wassa Amenfi East Municipality of the Western Region.

The suspects, Tahiru Issaka, alias Red, 26, and Yahuza Mohammed, 34, were arrested on August 27, at two different locations in the Ashanti Region.

One other person, who was shot during the operation and died later, was identified by the two suspects as Gafar Ziyech Abdul, alias Stone. He was said to be the leader of the gang.

A statement signed by Chief Superintendent of Police Grace Ansah-Akrofi, the Director, Public Affairs, copied to the Ghana News Agency, confirmed the story.

It said on Monday, June 27, the suspects and three other accomplices disarmed the security guard on duty, assaulted two staff of the bank and made away with unspecified amounts of money and a pump action gun.

The robbers were also reported to have shot one person who attempted to mount a roadblock to prevent them from escaping.

The statement said when the robbers realised they were being pursued by the police, they set their vehicle ablaze and abandoned it hoping it would foil the police tracking them.

However, combined efforts by the Western, Ashanti and Bono East Regional Police Intelligence Directorates, over an eight-week period, led to the arrest of the suspects.

The police have, so far, retrieved four vehicles including the one that was set ablaze, a motorbike, two pistols and a quantity of ammunition.

“The suspects are currently in police custody while the pursuit of the other accomplices continue. We wish to assure the public that these criminals can run but they cannot hide. Wherever they are we will get them,” the statement said.

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It commended the intelligence officers in the Western, Ashanti, and Bono East regions for the hard work and collaborative effort, which led to the breakthrough in the investigations.