Suspected armed robbers yesterday shot dead a police officer and an eyewitness during a robbery incident involving a bullion van at Jamestown, making away with a Police AK 47 rifle and unspecified amount of money, said to be in a ‘Ghana must go’ bag.
According to eyewitnesses, the police officer was providing security for the van while the lady was a bystander who witnessed the incident. The driver of the van also sustained severe injuries.
Police source information
According to police sources, the Jamestown District office of the Ghana Police Service had a distress call, around 12 noon, that three armed men on two motorbikes, with an unidentified number, had attacked and robbed a bullion Nissan van with registration number GT 8592 W, bearing the inscription Mon-Tran company.
The Police therefore rushed to the scene, where they found the said van parked in the middle of the Adedenko Metal Market road with three doors glasses shattered.
The body of the deceased police officer, G/Constable Emmanuel Osei, of the National Swat Unit, with number NO. 58449, was found in a pool of blood at the front seat of the van.
The driver of the van, identified only as Wisdom, was not met at the scene. He was said to have been rushed to the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital for treatment.
When the Police arrived at the scene, some onlookers led them to a wooden structure where the body of the deceased woman, 40-year-old Afua Badu, was found lying prone in a pool of blood.
It was gathered that she was pursued and shot by the robbers for raising an alarm. Police also located Grace Essel, one of the officials, who escaped unhurt and had taken refuge in the community.
Meanwhile, the two dead bodies were conveyed to the Police Hospital morgue for preservation and autopsy.
Investigations
Meanwhile, the Accra Regional Police Command has launched investigations into the killings.
It is also asking for vital information from the public to apprehend the suspects.
“Our crime scene experts have been invited to process the crime scene as part of investigations to get the perpetrators arrested. Meanwhile, anyone with information on the incident should kindly contact the Accra Regional Police Command,” the Public Relations Officer of the Accra Regional Police Command, DSP Afia Tenge, told the media.
Rise in robbery?
Last week, some armed men robbed a forex bureau at Honeysuckle, near the police CID headquarters at Osu.
Viral videos of the robbery incident showed the burglars indiscriminately firing guns during their operation, in the full glare of bystanders.
Few days ago, the Achimota School District Police Command arrested 43-year-old Richard Bokor for attempted robbery on the GIMPA road.
Police disclosed that the suspect smashed the side glass of a vehicle in an attempt to rob its occupants.
On Saturday night, police shot and injured a suspected robber during a robbery operation at the GIMPA/Fiesta Royal junction in Accra
The police moved to the area to pursue the suspected robbers after receiving a tip-off from a taxi driver who had been robbed by the suspects.
The Ghana Police Service recently advised robbery victims to formally file complaints on their experiences to the nearest police station.
The police served this notice after realizing that a series of reported cases of robberies along major roads in parts of Accra were only being publicized on social media without any report to the Police.