The vigilance of a driver and some passengers enroute to Burkina Faso, led to the arrest of an alleged prime suspect in the murder of the Asamponhene of Manhyia Palace, Nana Kwadwo Afoduo.
The arrest of Anumar Sadat Mohammed in Ouagdougouin, Burkina Faso, on Sunday, brings to four the number of suspects in the grips of the police in connection with the murder.
Three were arrested earlier in the first week of the incident, but Police would not give out their names for security reasons.
Mohammed was said to have been spotted by the driver and some passengers of a Burkina Faso-bound commercial vehicle, just after crossing the Ghana-Burkina Faso barrier.
Some reports suggested that one of the last meetings the late chief attended was with the suspect who is alleged to be the mastermind behind the murder.
His sudden disappearance and subsequent turning off of his mobile phones heightened the suspicion of the police who had been on his heels until the arrest.
Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Godwin Ahianyo, Head of the Ashanti Regional Police Public Affairs Unit, confirmed the arrest in a statement issued to the media.
He said intensive search had been mounted for any other suspect while those arrested are helping with investigations into the incident, but would not give further details.
Earlier,the Ghanaian Times gathered that the 46-year old chief, who was the owner of The Golden Eye, formerly X5 Pub, in Krofrom, was murdered in his private vehicle, a Toyota Land Cruiser at Ebuom, on the Ejura-Nkronza highway, on Sunday, at about 4:30pm.
His body was found at the back seat of the vehicle, GC 7212-16, with his hands tied behind him, and a big cut on his forehead and other multiple wounds on his back.
But, for some church members who were returning from a convention, the body and vehicle would have been burnt beyond recognition as the assassins were said to have set the vehicle on fire.
According to sources, the airbag burst and reduced the intensity of the fire and with the help of other motorists, the church members managed to put it off and raised an alarm before the police got to the scene.
Some relatives told the Ghanaian Times at the Krofrom residence of the deceased that the late chief went out in the morning for normal Sunday rounds and was alone in his vehicle only for the news of his demise to reach them in the evening.
The family believed the deceased was grabbed by his captors, killed and sent to Ebuom to create impression he was travelling on the highway.
According to the family the deceased did not inform anyone that he was travelling to Ejura.
The body has been deposited at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital’s mortuary.
FROM KINGSLEY E.HOPE, KUMASI
