Four armed robbers, on Friday evening, attacked and robbed a bullion van carrying an unspecified amount of cash from Techiman to Sunyani at gun point at the outskirt of a village called Maapehia, in the Bono East Region.
The driver of the van, with registration number GT 3181-W, and a police guard were injured in the attack, which unconfirmed reports suggest resulted in the loss of about GH₵638,000.
The armed robbers, according to Bono East Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Djan Kyere, took away an AK 47 from the police officer and went away with it including another AK 47, they used in the operation.
He explained to the Ghanaian Times on phone that, at about 5:30 pm on Friday, a bullion van with registration number GT-3181-W, owned by Absa Bank in Techiman, was carrying the money, Lance Corporal Yussifi Abubakar, a police officer, a cash boy and a driver, heading towards Sunyani, but on reaching the outskirt of Maapehia, the robbers opened fire on the van.
The driver, Frank Agyemang, in an attempt to speed off, was shot in the hand through the window and injured Lance Corporal Yussifi Abubakar too.
The robbers, he said, brought out the safe containing the money, opened it and took away the money, leaving behind smaller denominations on the street in the community.
“They fled into the bush with the money and two AK 47 guns. When the message was relayed to us, police patrol team quickly went to the scene, combed bushes around the area, but couldn’t find them,” he said.
The police officer and the driver were rushed to Techiman Holy Family Hospital, where they were treated and discharged.
DCOP Kyere further said, on Saturday morning, police at Akumadan, on Kumasi-Techiman highway, intercepted a salon car which the occupants had abandoned on the road.
He said police officers at Akumadan said that, a private security man who was guarding a new gari processing factory in the area saw a saloon car pass by, but the occupant drove back, came out of the vehicle, and entered the factory premises.
According to the security man, he thought they were there to steal, so immediately he called the police.
When the police got to the scene, they saw four men who were trying to share money in a sack, but fled into the bush, leaving behind GH₵195,000, with some scattered on the ground.
DCOP Kyere told the Ghanaian Times that, at Maapehia, the robbers also left behind GH₵39,000 in different smaller denomination.
The Bono East police boss, however, was not able to tell the paper how much was robbed from the bullion van, saying bank officials were yet to bring the waybill accompanying the money to enable them ascertain exactly how much cash was in the van.
DCOP Kyere said, whilst police personnel and bank officials at Akumadan were checking details of the saloon car, a man who claimed to be a pastor came around and claimed ownership of the car.
The pastor, according the police, informed the investigators that four men came to him from Kumasi before the incident, and pleaded with him to give them his car for an operation, which he obliged because he knew them.
A G-3 gun and a pump action gun were retrieved from the saloon car, but the robbers bolted with the two AK guns.
The pastor has been arrested and is assisting police in their investigations.
The police commander said the four armed robbers are still on the run.
FROM DANIEL DZIRASAH, SUNYANI
