Policemen turned robbers jailed 36 months
General Corporal Solomon Elvis Mensah and General Lance Corporal Daniel Kissi Abrokwa have been jailed for 36 months by the Mpraeso Circuit Court for escaping from lawful custody.
The two policemen were involved in the robbery of a bullion van belonging to the GCB Bank Limited at Mame Krobo in the Eastern Region; the two were found guilty by the Court at the end of the trial. The two are also appearing before a District Court in Accra over an alleged attack which led to the death of Daniel K Sarpong, the driver of the bullion van.
The two in the company of a civilian Hafisu Mohammed, aka Danjuma, a mechanic escaped at Nkawkaw when they were being transported to Koforidua.
The two pleaded with escorts who were also policemen to stop for them to urinate but managed to push the escorts away and escaped into nearby bushes at the outskirt of Nkawkwa on August 16, last year.
However two days after their escape the convicts were re-arrested at different locations in the bush at Nkawkaw.
Meanwhile the two convicts and their accomplices Mohammed have been appearing before a District Court in Accra over an alleged attack which led to the death of Daniel K Sarpong, the driver of the bullion van.
The two officers are being held on the charges of attempted robbery, conspiracy and murder.
Mohammed has been charged with conspiracy. The pleas of the accused persons have been reserved by the Court and they have been remanded into lawful custody to reappear on January 10.
The convicts allegedly hatched a plan of robbing the bullion van and on August 16 the police officers, who were on duty at the GN Bank and GCB respectively, discussed the robbery with Mohammed, who was a friend to the two and also a taxi driver.
The officers then armed themselves with AK 47 rifles and laid ambush at a spot between Tease and Mame Krobo at about 1030 hours on that fateful day.
Mohammed drove his taxi with registration number 1860-09 towards Ekye Amanfrom to monitor the arrival of the bullion van.
The prosecution said 20 minutes after the bullion van arrived, Mohammed signalled the police officers who then opened fire, killing the driver of the van.
A police officer on board the van who got injured managed to return fire compelling the two robbers to take cover in the bush.
The attackers called Mohammed, who picked them with his car, in their bid to escape.
The Police Command at Donkorkrom got wind of the robbery incident and mobilised men who arrested the three accused persons on board the cab.
The prosecution said two AK 47 rifles, 23 rounds of ammunitions, a cutlass, and two metal bars were retrieved from the taxi.
The deceased’s body has since been deposited at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital awaiting autopsy.
The three other occupants of the bullion van, however, escaped unhurt while the policeman on guard was treated and discharged at the Donkorkrom Presbyterian Hospital.
Source: GNA