Five car snatchers including one dressed in military uniform were on Sunday arrested by the police in Tamale in the Northern Region.
They are Ibrahim Issah 27, contractor/Accra; Mohammed Mustapha in military uniform, 23, Burma camp DI; Vivor Christopher, 27 phone repairer; Benjamin Ajyei and Seyram Addo, 29, plumber, Danfa/Madina.
According to a brief update by the police on its Facebook page, the suspects snatched a Toyota Camry salon car from its owner at a residential area and bolted.
The suspects were however pursued by the police and were arrested at Buipe in the Savannah Region.
A police document on the incident shows the suspects were arrested with a weapon and some uniforms belonging to the Ghana Armed Forces and the Ghana Police Service.
The items found on the suspects include 13 assorted mobile phones, one Falcon Foreign Pistol loaded with 9mm ammunition, a wallet containing a bunch of keys together with two handcuff keys, two Voter’s ID cards, Melcom card, Access Bank card and cash in the sum of GHC21.20.
“Some military uniforms, police ballistic helmet and police uniforms were also found in the Toyota Camry Spider with registration number GX6923-20,” a situational report from the police said.
The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), however, has denied knowledge of the suspect in military camouflage uniform.
It said the public should disregard the viral pictures and videos on social media which described the suspects variously as a soldier.
A press statement signed and issued yesterday by the Acting Director of Public Relations, Commander Andy La-Anyane, said GAF is worried about the rising spate of impersonation by civilians, either wearing military uniforms or posting of fake pictures of themselves as military officers to defraud unsuspecting Ghanaians.
It attributed the development to the unauthorised sale of military uniforms and military pattern gadgets by some vendors which is gradually becoming inimical to national security.
“The Ghana Armed Forces is ready to co-operate with the Police to unravel the source of the military uniform in this particular incident and to stop the unauthorised sale of military uniforms across the country.
“Ghanaians should be confident to provide information to the security agencies in order to nib this trend in the bud,” the statement said.
The statement advised the general public to be circumspect in dealing with persons who pose as military personnel, and urged them to contact the Directorate of Public Relations on 0544338030 when in doubt.
BY TIMES REPORTER
