Three suspects believed to be members of a gang of car snatchers in the Kumasi Metropolis have been apprehended by the Pankrono Divisional Command of the Ghana Police Service.
Prince Akwasi Opuni, 33; Isaac Gyamfi, 28, and Mohammed Abubakari, 27, are currently in custody, while a fourth accomplice, whose name was given as Akwesi Baah, is at large.
They are alleged to have snatched an Opel Astra taxi, with registration number AS 8245-T, from its driver, Mr Anarfo Kwame, at Tafo Pankrono.
Briefing the media in Kumasi yesterday, the Tafo Pankrono Divisional Police Commander, Chief Superintendent of Police Mr Charles Domanban, said after snatching the cab from its driver, the suspects changed its registration number to GT 7742-F and offered it for sale at GH¢1,200.
He said the alleged buyer, who was suspicious of the source of the car due to its low cost, informed the police about the deal.
Mr Domanban said the police subsequently arrested Prince Opuni upon a tip-off and he assisted the police to arrest Gyamfi.
According to him, investigations revealed that about 10 p.m. on April 17, 2014, the three suspects hired the taxi from Kejetia to Tafo Pankrono and asked the driver to pass through the Asafo lorry station to enable them to pick their goods from there.
Mr Domanban said on reaching the Bafana Bafana Drinking Spot at Tafo Pankrono, the suspects asked the driver to stop the taxi. Opuni pulled out a knife on the driver, while Gyamfi and Baah dragged him out of the car. They then bolted with the cab.
He said in the course of police investigations, the suspects confessed to having snatched three other taxis from their drivers: a Nissan, a Toyota Corolla and an Opel Astra.
Suspects
In a related development, the police have arrested four suspects, including an ex-convict, David Owusu, 23, at the Bremang cemetery for attacking a passer-by, Mr Samuel Opoku, robbing him of his Nokia phoneand an unspecified amount of money and also inflicting blade wounds on him.
Mr Domanban said the suspects attacked Opoku about 9:30 p.m. on April 15, 2014.
He said about 5:30 a.m. on April 20, 2014, the complainant led the police to the place and identified the suspects at the same place while they were harassing other victims.
When they were searched a pistol, two sharp knives and four mobile phones suspected to belong to their victims were found on them.
The four have since been arraigned at the Kumasi circuit court and remanded. While Owusu was remanded in prison custody, the other three were sent to a borstal home for being minors.
The docket on the case has been forwarded to the Attorney-General’s Department for advice.
Deputy police boss
Meanwhile, the Deputy Ashanti Regional Police Commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Mr Osei Ampofo-Duku, has observed with concern the involvement of minors in violent crimes in the metropolis recently.
He advised parents to take good care of their children and introduce them to God so that they might not go astray.
