Police gun down robber, 4 flee

A HIGHWAY robber has been shot dead and his four surviving colleagues are very hot as police have mounted a wild hunt to arrest them from their hideouts.

The deceased, identified as Yaw Obolo, said to be 35 years old, was part of a five-man robbery gang, terrorizing people in the Obuasi area in Ashanti Region.

He lost his life when his robbery gang engaged armed police personnel in a gun battle at Nyamebekyere-Kokotenten near Obuasi on Thursday.

The highway robbers, according to the police, had planned to rob passengers onboard of vehicles that would ply the Nyamebekyere-Kokotenten road on that fateful day.

Unknown to the robbers, who were heavily armed, the police had gotten information about their intended operations and have therefore planned to foil it.

Police report shows that at about 5:30 am on Thursday, February 24, 2022, intelligence was gathered that some persons were planning to rob passengers on the feeder road between Nyamebekyere – Kokotenten, which is a robbery prone area.

On receipt of the information, a Police team was dispatched to patrol that stretch of the road on board a private Hyundai Grace when they encountered five men armed with guns.

The armed men on seeing the private Hyundai Grace vehicle fired into the vehicle with the aim of robbing the passengers.

The Police team returned fire and killed one of the suspected robbers while the rest who were far from the Police team fled into the bush.

Four other suspected robbers who were not within the range of the Police escaped arrest and are being pursued.

The deceased was later identified as Yaw Obolo, about 35 years of age.

A locally manufactured single-barreled gun, eight live cartridges and one Itel mobile phone were retrieved from the scene.

Residents of the nearby community assisted the Police while they combed the area in search of the rest of the robbers but they were not successful.

The deceased, Yaw Obolo, has been deposited at the Obuasi Government Hospital mortuary for preservation and autopsy.

The Police Administration assures the Police of doing all within their power to bring the rest of the suspected robbers to face the law.

The public is also urged to support the Police with credible information to help. arrest such miscreants