The Volta Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) E. Oduro-Kwateng has renewed his call on the travelling public to cooperate with police personnel on patrol duties along their routes.
“We do not take delight in wasting the precious time of the travelling public but sometimes we need to go the extra mile in our search,” said the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) in an interview in Ho last Wednesday.
DCOP Oduro-Kwateng cited the recent arrest of three men on the Kpando-Have road after the police found foreign-manufactured pistols concealed in a false compartment of their car, and said that without a painstaking search they would have gotten away with the weapons.
He pointed out that such checks on vehicles by the police were in “the broader public interest.”
Besides, DCOP Oduro-Kwateng said that fighting crime was a collective responsibility and that it was only proper for the public to assist the police to maintain peace and order in the country all the time.
The Regional Police Commander maintained that travelling time would definitely be reduced on the roads if travellers co-operated with the police on road patrol and barrier duties.
Meanwhile, the three men who were arrested on the Kpando-Have road have since been put before the Ho Magistrate Court One for possessing fire-arms without lawful authority.
They are Nervis Otu Laryea, 33, Ebenezer Osei, 38 and Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak, 37.
The accused persons who were not asked to plead, were remanded in police custody to appear before the court again on July 22.
The court was told that on July 6, a police patrol team along the Kpando-Have road in the Volta Region intercepted a Toyota Corolla car, AC1621-18 with the men on board.
According to the prosecution, a search on the vehicle revealed three foreign-manufactured pistols, 40 rounds of ammunition, 27 assorted cellular phones and Toshiba laptops.
The court was told that all the cellular phones bore price tags.
The prosecution said that Mubarak told the police during interrogation that he bought the phones from a man at Alavanyo-Wudidi but could not mention the man’s name.
Osei, on his part, said that he was returning from a shrine from the same town after seeking spiritual assistance for his business.
The court further heard that the car which was acquired by Laryea from Togo had no vehicle documents.
FROM ALBERTO MARIO NORETTI, HO
