AN OFFICER with the Anwiankwanta police station under the Bekwai Divisional Command in the Ashanti Region has been shot and wounded after a group of robbers opened fire on passengers onboard a Sprinter bus travelling from Cape Coast to Kumasi.
Lance Corporal Social Kwaku Mensah, 35, who was occupying the passenger side of the front seat of the bus, was struck with a bullet beneath his chin by the shooter, who fired from an elevated position.
The incident, which left passengers horrified, reportedly happened around 10:15 pm on Monday between the Akwanseram and Kyereboso portion of the Kumasi-Cape Coast road in the Adansi North District of the Ashanti Region.
It comes shortly after the shooting to death of Constable Michael Kporyi by an unknown assailant while the officer was on patrol duty at Michel Camp in Accra recently.
In the latest incident, according to reports, no other passenger apart from the police Lance Corporal sustained gunshot wounds during the highway robbery attack and the police have initiated serious investigations into it.
Superintendent Yaw Obeng Asubonteng, Fomena District Police Commander, who confirmed the incident, said the victim police officer is on admission at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH).
According to him, L/Corporal Social Kwaku Mensah was initially rushed to the Obuasi Government Hospital for medical attention where medics referred him to KATH because of the seriousness of his injuries.
The police chief narrated that the victim was shot and wounded by a group of suspected robbers midway of their journey on the sprinter bus registered GN 4597 – 13. The police officer was on his way back to Anwiankwanta from Ankaful Psychiatric Hospital in the Central Region where he had taken a suspect to for treatment.
DAILY GUIDE gathered that the robbers mounted roadblocks downhill on the road between Akwanseram and Kyereboso, where they ambushed the passengers.
The robbers were said to have used torchlight to signal the bus to a stop, making the uniformed police officer to think the people were his colleagues, but was shot beneath his chin by the robbers when they spotted him.
The paper learnt the robbers also took away cash and other valuable items from the passengers when the driver of the bus stopped the vehicle shortly after the attack on the police officer.
The police have mounted a search for the perpetrators of the crime as they wait for a formal report from the driver and other passengers who fell victim to the robbery operation.
From Ernest Kofi Adu, Kumasi