Man arrested for stealing AK 47 rifle from cop sleeping on duty
A man who allegedly stole an AK 47 assault rifle from a policeman while the policeman was on duty has been arrested at Pokuase, near Accra.
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The suspect, Anthony Agboto, 35, unemployed, is said to have stolen the rifle while the policeman was sleeping on duty.
Agboto is said to have been renting the gun to criminals from his wooden kiosk in which he lives with his family at Pokuase.
He was arrested when he threatened his wife with the weapon last Monday.
When contacted, the Amasaman District Police Commander, Deputy Superintendent of Police Mr Elvis Bawa Sadongo, told the Daily Graphic that the policeman from whom the rifle was stolen was currently facing an internal disciplinary procedure in accordance with the regulations of the Ghana Police Service.
He said on June 25, 2015, the policeman was posted on duty to work overnight but he returned the following morning to report that he could not find his rifle.
Conflicting reports
Mr Sadongo said the policeman, whose identity is being withheld, had given conflicting reports to his supervisors.
“Even though he was supposed to end his duty at 5 a.m., he claimed he was sleeping in his room when he woke up the next morning to see that his rifle was gone. He also claimed there was heat in his room and so he had opened the door and his rifle was stolen. He is giving us conflicting stories,” the commander said.
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The policeman, according to Mr Sadongo, was supposed to be on duty and, therefore, he could not claim he was sleeping at home.
Police investigations, he said, showed that Agboto was an ex-convict, adding that “he has been released from prison twice”.
The commander said the police monitored Agboto’s movements until “last Monday when he threatened to kill his wife with the gun. When the wife left the house, he thought she was going to report to the police and so he decided to keep it away from his kiosk”.
He said Agboto concealed the weapon in a sack and was about to transport it from his house when the police arrested him.
During interrogations, he said, the suspect denied stealing the weapon from a policeman.
Mr Sadongo said Agboto claimed some people had given the gun to him to be kept for them.