POLICE SWOOP ON CRIMINALS

…25 arrested in Kumasi
STORY: FROM JAMES APPIAKORANG JR, KUMASI, A/R

The Ashanti Regional Police Command has arrested 25 hardened criminals at three notorious criminal hideouts, popularly known as Obonsam Gyamu at Amakom, a suburb of Kumasi.

Among the 25 criminals was a woman and boys under the age of twenty. Today discovered that most of the criminals were not necessarily residents of Amakom, but often meet at the hideouts to strategise and also solicit vital information from informants to help them in their operations.

The paper established from further findings that some of the criminals are notorious patrons and consumers of hard drugs and also responsible for many nefarious activities at Amakom and its immediate environs.

In fact some of them had with them marijuana and other dangerous weapons which interrogations show they use in carrying out their operations.

Residents and other eye-witnesses whom the paper spoke to said, the criminals have been terrorising them all this while and were therefore relieved that the Ashanti regional police had been able to snuff out the criminals, but appealed to the police to offer them enough protection even after the exercise.

They again urged the police to extend their surveillance to other areas of the region where criminals have virtually taken over and assured that they would be offering the necessary information and other tip-offs to make the work of the police easy.

The Ashanti Regional Police Commander, DCOP Patrick Timbilla, who led the operation, however gave the assurance at a press briefing in Kumasi that his outfit shall pursue the criminals wherever they go and hide till they leave the region, if they are not ready to quit their criminal activities.

The regional police commander also reiterated its determination to pursue and flush out hardened criminals wherever they operate to allow residents go about their normal business and rid the region of crime.

He attributed the success of the operation to what he called a coordinated police intelligence gathering which had been undertaken by the Ashanti Regional CID unit.

He explained that the team after a careful surveillance at the notorious three spots at Amakom earlier in the week, embarked upon the swoop unannounced.

Mr. Timbilla said residents of the area had made several reports to the police to the extent that some of them even indicted them (the police) of being lethargic to their plights.

He was quick to add that they had to gather intelligence about the area and that was why it took them some time.

A search conducted on the suspects revealed three machetes, one pistol, assorted mobile phone batteries, a bottle containing alcohol and some dried leaves suspected to be Indian hemp and a quantity of whitish substance suspected to be cocaine.

The commander affirmed that all the suspects would be screened and duly processed for court as soon as possible.