FIVE COPS INTERDICTED -FOR ALLEGED INVOLVEMENT IN 2 ROBBERY CASES (Front Page 1B)

05/05/2008
Story: Mary Mensah
FIVE policemen have been interdicted on the orders of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr Patrick Kwarteng Acheampong, for their involvement in two robbery incidents.
Three of the policemen intercepted a fuel tanker loaded with 32,500 litres of gas oil and sold its content, after which they abandoned the tanker.
The other two also arrested a traveller at the Kotoka International Airport under the pretext that he was suspected of carrying drugs and drove him in a State Protocol saloon car to the bushes behind the Legon Police Station where they robbed him of 12,500 euros and some dollars.
After that, the policemen took their victim to a hotel at Osu RE and gave him medicine which they said would help him to expel the supposed drugs he had swallowed for them.
The three policemen who intercepted the fuel tanker are General Constable Bruce Amanyadi and General Constable Dennis Quartey, both of the Dansoman Police, and General Constable Reynolds Asante Kwarteng of the Organised Crime Unit.
The two who arrested the traveller at the airport are General Constable Joseph Bowers of the Highway Patrol Unit and General Lance Corporal Richard Dotsey Gablah of the Legon Police.
Another police accomplice, General Lance Corporal Bawa Hector, also of the Dansoman Police, is, however, on the run and an intensive search has been mounted for his arrest.
Five civilians have also been arrested in connection with the sale of the fuel. They are Alhaji Mohammed Maigah, Mohammed Yussif, Karim Awudu, Hajia Memuna and Alhaji Issaka Saeed.
According to the Director of the Police Public Affairs Directorate, DSP Kwesi Ofori, on April 18, 2008, Joseph Abandoh, the driver of a fuel tanker, accompanied by his mate, Emmanuel Crentsil, reported to the Tesano Police that at 9.00 p.m. on April 17, 2008, while carrying a full load of gas oil from the Tema Oil Refinery to Akim-Oda in the Eastern Region, he was intercepted by three policemen on reaching the Darkuman-Nyamekye Junction.
Abandoh said two of the policemen were armed with AK 47 assault rifles and they demanded his waybills, adding that after he had handed them over to them, they seized his ignition keys and asked him and his mate to enter a taxi to be taken to the police station.
DSP Ofori said two of the policemen accompanied the driver and his mate, while one was left behind to guard the tanker.
However, he said, after driving round for a while, Abandoh and Crentsil were released, but when they returned to the Nyamekye Junction, they could neither trace the tanker nor the policeman.
He said on April 20, 2008, based upon information, Alhaji Maigah and Hajia Memuna were arrested for investigation and they admitted having received a quantity of gas oil from Bruce Amanyadi, a policeman, and four other civilians.
He said investigations led to the arrest of the two policemen and their civilian accomplices on April 24, 2008 and that during interrogation, they admitted having conspired to seize the Benz fuel tanker from the driver but denied knowledge of the sale of the fuel.
The director said Amanyadi, who had been left behind, together with the fuel tanker, was later joined by Mohammed Yussif, Karim Awudu, Halidu, Yakubu and Karim, who are all at large, and they drove the fuel tanker to the Star Oil Company filling station at a place called Israel. The station belonged to Alhaji Maigah, to whom 20,600 litres were sold.
Afterwards, they sold the remaining 11,900 litres to one George Asante of Allied Oil Company Filling Station at the Roman Junction near Sowutuom and abandoned the empty tanker at Ofankor, near the old police barrier.
Touching on the other incident, DSP Ofori said the three policemen arrested a spare parts dealer, Isaac Opoku Akrasi, at the Kotoka Airport on April 24, 2008 while he was going through departure formalities.
He said they drove Akrasi in a State Protocol Chrysler saloon car to a spot behind the Legon Police Station where they robbed him of 12,500 euros and some dollars.
He said after that, the driver of the vehicle left, together with Constable Kwarteng, who returned shortly in a VW saloon car. He had three cans of fresh milk and gave them to the victim to drink in order to expel the suspected drugs he had swallowed.
He said they later drove Akrasi to a guest house at Madina but they were denied accommodation so they drove to a hotel at Osu RE, near Papaye, where they booked a room.
The director said Akrasi, realising that there were many people in the area, had raised an alarm that the three policemen were trying to kidnap him.
That attracted many people who confronted the policemen, prompting them to bolt on foot, but the crowd deflated the tyres of their VW saloon car.
DSP Ofori said one of the policemen reported to the Cantonments Police that they had been attacked by a crowd, while the victim also went to the Osu Police Station to lodge a complaint, which led to the arrest of the policemen.