2 Cops attack bullion van with civilian accomplice; Driver killed
The two policemen and a civilian who were arrested on Tuesday for allegedly killing a GCB Bank bullion vehicle driver and injuring the policemen escorting the vehicle to Donkorkrom, near Assisi Farm at Asukese No1 in the Afram Plains South District, have escaped from police hands.
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They escaped within the heart of Nkawkaw while being transported from Tease to Koforidua for investigations and prosecution.
The Donkorkrom Divisional Police Commander and his men who were escorting the suspects vigorously roamed the entire Nkawkaw yesterday in search of the suspects.
The suspects, Abrokwah Kissi and Solomon Elvis Mensah, both policemen, and their civilian counterpart, Dejimah Mohammed, escaped in Nkawkaw when the pick-up which was transporting them stopped at the Crown Filling Station for refuelling.
The two policemen have been identified as Corporal Elvis Mensah and Lance Corporal Daniel Kissi while the mechanic is yet to be identified.
How they escaped
According to an eyewitness who was also at the filling station to buy fuel, the three escapees were seated at the back of a white police pick-up, with an armed policeman just a few yards away from them.
The witness said all of a sudden he saw one of the suspects push the policeman away and the three suspects took to their heels.
The driver of the bullion van shot dead behind the steering wheel
"What amazed me was how two suspects managed to release their hands from the handcuffs," he told the Daily Graphic.
The Donkorkrom Divisional Commander, Chief Superintendent Isaac Obeng Dompreh, who was leading the team, was so mesmerised and perturbed that he could not grant an interview.
However, when contacted, the Eastern Regional Police Public Affairs Officer, Mr Yaw Nketia-Yeboah, said he had not received any information on the escape and so could not confirm it, even though policemen at the Eastern Regional Police Headquarters were heard discussing the matter.
Meanwhile, the body of David Sarpong, the driver of the GCB Bank bullion vehicle who died instantly after being shot in the eye on Tuesday, has been deposited at the Donkorkrom Presby Hospital morgue, while Fredrick Adei, the police escort on board who sustained gunshot wounds, is also on admission at the same hospital.
Demonstration
Two hours after the suspects had escaped, some residents of Ekye Amanfrom, a community in the Afram Plains, went on a demonstration to express their disappointment in the police for allowing the three to escape.
According to them, they did not understand how the suspects managed to escape in Nkawkaw and were suspicious that the police might have condoned with the suspects.
They chanted: “No more police, No more police”, implying that there was no need for police presence in the Afram Plains, since they could not handle the suspects.
They called on the government to come to their aid, else they would take the law into their own hands.
Some residents of Ekye Amanfrom demonstrating against the police
Background
The suspects had, on Tuesday morning, opened fire on the empty bullion, killing the driver instantly and injuring the policeman escorting the bullion.
A source closed to the Daily Graphic said one of the suspects was the policeman on duty at the bank the previous day and had hint that the bullion was going to the Donkorkrom branch of the bank.
According to the source, the policeman was alleged to have alerted his accomplices and together they ambushed the vehicle at the Asukese Number 1 Junction, presumably to attack the vehicle and loot the money.
