The key suspect’s vehicle impounded by the police
The police have intensified their search for the man suspected to be privy to the death of Otumfuo’s Asamponhene, Oheneba Kwadwo Aforduor.
The popular chief was found gruesomely murdered last week in his black Land Cruiser on the outskirts of Ejura in the Ashanti Region, throwing residents of Kumasi into a state of shock.
Person of Interest
The police have already declared that the main person of interest in the case is one Sadat Mohammed, 38, popularly called Alhaji or Mallam, who is married to a queen mother in Kumasi.
Sources at the Ashanti Regional Police Command have said since the unfortunate murder of the chief, the Alhaji’s phones have been switched off and cannot be reached.
Benin & Mali
The Alhaji is said to have links in Benin and Mali but there is no official information that he has left Ghana, even though the police said he and his wife cannot be found in Kumasi.
Investigations made by the police so far, had indicated that Alhaji was a close friend of the late traditional leader.
The Asamponhene, according to the police, visited Alhaji in his house at Odeneho Kwadaso on Sunday morning. Later, the two friends travelled together on that same day.
Some hours later, the body of the chief was found in his black Land Cruiser vehicle at Ebuom on the main Ejura-Nkoranza highway in the Ashanti Region.
The police gathered that Alhaji then vanished with his wife in a taxi, even though they own a fleet of cars.
Alhaji’s Residence
After several attempts to locate Alhaji had proved futile, the police stormed the house again and towed away Alhaji’s white Land Cruiser car to the police headquarters in Kumasi.
DAILY GUIDE has gathered that some people spotted Alhaji’s white Land Cruiser car closely following Asamponhene’s black Land Cruiser around Ejura on Sunday afternoon.
The white Land Cruiser is not yet registered even though the provisional number plate shows that it was cleared from the Tema Port.
Supposed Murder Scene
The Asamponhene was found dead in his Land Cruiser vehicle with registration number GC 7212-16, on the outskirts of Ejura on Sunday August 18, 2019 and initial reports had suggested he died through an accident.
But top police investigators that stormed the accident scene at Ebuom on the main Ejura-Nkoranza highway then ruled out the possibility of the vehicle getting involved in an accident.
Deleting Evidence
Police investigators have said they are not ruling out the fact that the killer tried to burn the chief and his Land Cruiser vehicle in order to cover up his illegal action.
A gallon, containing petrol and matches (two objects usually used to start a fire), were found at the scene where the chief’s body was found.
Prospective Witness
A prospective witness in the case has told the police that the prominent chief left the house on Sunday in Kumasi and said he was going to visit someone in one of the suburbs also in Kumasi and within few hours news came in that his body had been found at Ejura.
On the scene where the body was found, there were blood stains in the Land Cruiser which was not fresh, suggesting the body had been dumped there.
They also disclosed that the vehicle’s front windscreen had developed visible cracks, and checks by fire experts indicated that the massive heat, produced by the fire, forced the windscreen to crack.
FROM I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi