Fugitive armed robber nabbed
A suspected armed robber on the police wanted list in Kumasi has been arrested in Wa. Sadat Baluwa, 35, was picked up from his hideout at Wa Zongo, smoking what was suspected to be Indian hemp, with two other persons.
According to the Upper West Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Kwasi Mensah Duku, Baluwa has been on the wanted list of the police in the Ashanti Region for crimes related to robberies, particularly around the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.
He is alleged to have robbed and molested university students and declared a certain part of the university environment a prohibited area for passers-by.
Terror
Since the Ashanti Regional Police Command declared him wanted sometime last year, he appeared to have found the relatively quiet environs of Wa as a safe haven where he continued with his criminal activities.
According to Mr Duku, "he has been terrorising people in town for some time now. And now that he is in our grip, we will send him over to Kumasi for the regional command to pursue the necessary cases pending in his name."
Swoop
In a related development, the Upper West regional police last Tuesday arrested 21 suspected criminals in swoops at various locations in Wa, the regional capital. The suspects, all male, were aged between 18 and 30.
According to Mr Duku, the suspects would be screened and those found culpable prosecuted.
Operation
He said the midnight operations were conducted at Kpaguri and other suburbs of the municipality.
According to the commander, while some of the suspects were seen loitering suspiciously around quiet neighbourhoods, others were arrested at hideouts suspected to be bases where they planned their nefarious activities.
The swoop followed recent media reportage on the security situation within the Wa Municipality.
Mr Duku, however, insisted in an interview with the Daily Graphic that the police command had always operated to avert crime, citing a reduction in crime figures between the first quarters of last year and this year to buttress his claim.
Reported crime cases, including murder, robbery and assault in the area, reduced from 180 in 2014 to 170 in 2015.
