The Police in Ashanti have arrested 35 suspected criminals at Bantama, in Kumasi, during a swoop by the police.
The alleged criminals, which included 31 males and four females, are currently in police custody and would be paraded for identification in subsequent days as they have been accused of different criminal acts.
Addressing a news conference here, the Ashanti Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP), Kwesi Mensah Duku, said, some of the suspects have already been identified by their victims.
He noted that, the police conducted the swoop after they received several complaints from residents about activities of criminals in the area.
“You know Bantama is one of our action spots, area of criminals, people were complaining and so we went and did some operations there,” he noted.
DCOP Duku also warned the public over some car snatching syndicate and their activities in the region explaining that, one of the members of the syndicate goes to car rental companies in other parts of the country especially Tema, Accra and Takoradi to rent a car to Kumasi for business transaction.
After renting the car, the suspect would travel with the unsuspecting drivers to Kumasi and when they get to Kumasi, they quickly place a call to their accomplices who then attack the drivers at gunpoint and rob them of the vehicles.
He also revealed that, the syndicates would also show interest in buying the vehicle and in the process of test-driving, they would tell the car owner to get down from the car and check the exhaust pipe and just as the owner gets down to check the exhaust, the suspect would quickly drive the car away and leave the owner behind.
According to DCOP Duku, most of the stolen vehicles included Toyota Prado, Toyota Pickups and other 4×4 vehicles disclosing some of the suspects have been arrested and arraigned before the various courts.
He advised the car rental companies to be cautious about the activities of the syndicate and should always demand proper identification documents from customers and also take their photographs which have the tendency to scare away people with bad intentions.
Moreover, DCOP Duku advised them to install tracking devices in their vehicles in order to be able to track the vehicles wherever they would be taken to.
FROM KINGSLEY E.HOPE, KUMASI
