The five suspects including the Nkosuohene
A TRADITIONAL leader has reportedly been arrested for indulging in illegal mining, popularly called ‘galamsey’, in a forest reserve.
Nana Kwadwo Poku, who is the Nkosuohene (Development Chief) of Minti, a farming town in the Bosome Freho District of the Ashanti Region, was nabbed with four other suspects.
The five suspects, including the 45-year-old Nkosuohene, were said to be digging the ground for gold in the Bosomtwe Range Forest Reserve when they were arrested.
The remaining suspects have since been identified by the security agents as Mohammed Martey, 30; Kwame Signah, 33; Akwasi Amadu, 48; and Yaw George Asirifi, 41.
The Forestry Commission Management Team and the Rapid Response Unit carried out the successful operation which led to the arrest of the suspects, who are in police custody.
According to reports, the suspects were apprehended in Compartment 30 of the forest reserve. They were mining with an excavator and other equipment, which have been seized.
The suspects, reports indicated, had destroyed a sizable portion of the forest reserve before they were eventually arrested and handed over to the police.
Items such as one motorbike, a power plant, and an air blower fuel tank, were set on fire in the forest by their captors, reports indicated.
However, other reports suggested that other equipment, which were also seized from the suspects, have been given to the police to support investigations, which is underway.
FROM I.F. Joe Awuah, Kumasi