THE OBUASI Municipal Police Command has arrested a police officer believed to be a member of a robbery syndicate operating in some parts of the Ashanti Region.
Inspector Godwin Mensah, a serving officer stationed at Agona Swedru in the Central Region, was arrested at Kunka Junction in Obuasi on Thursday, May 28, 2020 night by a police patrol team.
Two members of the gang, a police lance corporal and a cabbie, who were all dressed in police uniform, managed to escape arrest, DGN Online learnt.
The three had gone to attack a renowned gold dealer, Thomas Lee aka ‘Red’ at Memerwa No. 1 in the Obuasi Municipality, and were returning to their base when he was grabbed.
A police source, which confirmed the arrest of Inspector Godwin Mensah, told DGN Online the suspect and his colleague lance corporal are members of the Operation Vanguard stationed at Obuasi.
The two ‘recruited’ the unnamed taxi driver to join them for the robbery operation, which lasted for one hour.
The source said the threesome, on May 28, 2020 around 7pm, went to the house of the victim, Thomas Lee at Memerewa No. 1 and robbed him of GH?10,000 concealed in a traveling bag after accusing him of trading in gold without license.
DGN learned that Inspector Mensah and his gang, who were in possession of AK47 assault rifle, subjected the victim to beating after handcuffing him.
They later bundled him into a Daewoo Matiz taxi cab with registration number AC 9310 – 18 used for the operation, the police source narrated and added that the suspects took the victim hostage and subsequently escaped from the village with him to Obuasi.
The gangsters allegedly told the victim they were taking to the police headquarters in Accra for him to be processed to court for trading in gold without license.
Officers of the Obuasi Municipal Police Command, armed with the information, tracked down the suspects and arrested Inspector Godwin Mensah at Kunka Junction – on the Obuasi-Kumasi highway – around 9:00pm.
The gold dealer, narrating his ordeal, said: “I was here in my room eating when I heard a knock on my door. Before I could go to open it, two people in police uniform stormed in and asked me where I had hidden the gold.”
“I politely told them there was no gold in my room. I also demanded where they came from and their mission and one of them gave me a slapped on the face.”
“They handcuffed me and ransacked my room until they discovered GH?10,000 concealed in my traveling bag. They took it and dragged me along into a waiting taxi cab.”
“While on the way, the officers demanded GH?100,000 before I could be set free, but I told them the money did not belong to me, but for my master. I said I could only afford GH?1,000, they would not budge,” Red stated.
“The people diverted the course and took to Dokyiwa direction when they spotted a police barrier ahead, but the police, armed with the information, chased the taxi and crossed it at Kunka Junction where one of them was arrested.”
Suspect Godwin Mensah remained in police custody since Saturday, while effort was underway to arrest his accomplices, who are currently at large.
The police suspected the threesome to be members of robbery gang, who had been frequenting mining sites in the area and terrorizing operators.
By Ernest Kofi Adu