Families dispute police claims in killing 7 suspected criminals

Some relatives of suspected armed robbers who were shot and killed by the police in Ashanti massed up in the Regional Police Command on Wednesday, to demand justice.

The police have maintained that all seven deceased were suspected robbers but families of three of the suspects accuse the police of wrongfully killing their relatives.

Three of the deceased have been identified to be residents of Aboabo and Asawasi in the Asokore Mampong Municipality.

The Municipal Chief Executive, Alhaji Halidu Seidu, led family members of the deceased to meet with the Regional Police Commander, DCOP Kwesi Mensah Duku.

The families are therefore demanding an in-depth investigation into the matter, insisting, their relatives were not armed robbers as being claimed by the police.

The MCE has asked the agitated youth of the area to remain calm for the police to conclude its investigations.

“Once the police have commenced investigations into the matter, we should leave the work for them to do and come out with their findings before we do a surgical analysis of the outcome. I call on all the youth in the municipality to remain calm until we hear from the police before we know what next to do”.

The Ashanti Regional Police Commander, DCOP Kwesi Mensah Duku, at a media briefing on Wednesday said, the officers were compelled to return fire after the suspected armed robbers opened fire at them.

He explained that, they picked some intelligence last week that some armed men have planned to attack and rob residents and mining sites at Manso Nkwanta.

“Upon receipt of the information, the police deployed some team to patrol Anwiankwanta and Manso Nkwanta. During the patrol on Tuesday, a Toyota Corolla with registration number, BA 294 – 15, and an unregistered motorbike driving towards the Manso Nkwanta direction were signaled to stop but the occupants refused and started firing at the police. The police also returned fire which led to the unfortunate death of the seven”.

DCOP Duku however added investigations have commenced into the killing of the suspects.

“We have started with our investigations but we will like to inform the general public and those who gave the information to us that they should continue to partner with the police to fight crime in the region”.

The police on Tuesday gunned down seven persons alleged to be engaged in armed robbery attacks at Manso Poano in the Ashanti Region.

The operation comes almost a week after two police officers were shot by armed robbers who attacked a commercial Sprinter bus in the Manso area.

One of the officers died on the spot. A team of police officers was later deployed to the area to help arrest the robbers.

On Tuesday, seven dead men packed in the bucket of a pick-up vehicle were conveyed to the Ashanti Regional Police Command and paraded as armed robbers.

According to the police, several arms and ammunitions were retrieved from the vehicle of the deceased.

Source: Ghana/otecfmghana.com