Police here have arrested 30 suspected criminals in an operation to rid the city of Kumasi and its environs of heightening insecurity spearheaded by some unscrupulous people.
The police also burnt makeshift hideouts in some areas identified as volatile and hotspots within the metropolis which harboured some of the suspected criminals.
Wednesday’s swoop was done at Aboabo Number Two, within Asokore-Mampong Municipality, where the police identified as a major hub and hideout for suspected criminals within Kumasi and its environs.
Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Godwin Ahianyo, head of the Ashanti Regional Police Public Affairs Unit indicated that some weapons and sharp objects were obtained during the swoop.
“During the Wednesday swoop, we arrested 30 suspects and burnt their hideouts, we also obtained gadgets such as local pistols, machetes, drugs and other stuff.”
He said “we will parade them for identification and profile them, then put them before court. We want to assure the public that this is not a nine-day wonder. We will visit all the hotspots in Kumasi to defuse the various base and hideouts of the criminals.”
The Command also appealed to the general public to assist with information on suspected behaviours to ensure Kumasi residents went about their normal duties with assured safety.
For the few weeks, the city of Kumasi appeared to have been taken over by armed robberies and other criminal activities with the latest development being the murder of a 24 year old woman after she was robbed of her handbag containing some valuables.
Identified as Angelina Akua Serwaa Gyimah, the hardware shop attendant was shot in the neck few minutes after she got alighted from a commuter (trotro) at Maxima, (TECH) in Kumasi at about 9:00pm, on Tuesday.
A former presidential aspirant, Nana Agyenim Boateng, popularly known as Gyataba, founder and leader of the United Front Party (UFP), happened to be around the place and rushed the victim to the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology’s hospital where she died 10 minutes on arrival.
According to Nana Boateng, he suddenly heard a gunshot, saying “all I heard was the sound of gunshots and then a motorbike sped off”, as he was standing few meters away from the crime scene.
He said the lady bled profusely and some drivers around appeared to be afraid of the blood and could not pick her up, until he went there to pick her in his own car to the hospital.
FROM KINGSLEY E.HOPE, KUMASI
