Suspects in police grips identified as Mamfe Akuapem shop robbers

Two out of three persons remanded into police custody by a Ho District Magistrate Court 1 for the unlawful possession of firearms have been identified as persons who broke into an electrical appliance shop at Mamfe Akuapem in the Eastern region on the night of Sunday, July 4, 2021.

The accused persons Nervis Otu Laryea, 33, Ebenezer Osei aged 38 and Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak, 37 were arrested on July 6, by a police Rapid Deployment Force patrol team along the Kpando-Have road onboard a Toyota Corolla with registration number AC 1621-18.

After a thorough search by the police, three foreign pistols with 40 rounds of 9mm ammunition, two Toshiba laptops and 27 assorted mobiles phones were found in the car.

All 27 mobiles phones had price tags, while other items including two hoody pullovers were retrieved from the suspects.

During police interrogation, suspect Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak told the police that he obtained the mobile phones from a man he does not know at Alavanyo Wudidi in the Hohoe Municipality of the Volta region. He, however, failed to provide any receipts for the transaction.

Meanwhile, suspects Nervis Otu Laryea and Ebenezer Osei claimed to have offered a lift to suspect Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak on their way from Alavanyo, where suspect Ebenezer Osei claimed to have gone to visit a shrine for spiritual assistance in his business.

Further investigations by the police revealed that the Toyota Corolla with registration number AC 1621-18 was also acquired by suspect Nervis Otu Laryea at Afienya from someone from Togo but without documents.

But after media publication of the arrest, a team of police officers and a shop owner (name withheld) from Mamfe Akuapem in the Eastern region, followed up to Ho and identified the mobile phones as stolen items in an operation that took place two days earlier before the arrest of the three in the Volta region.

The public relations officer of the Volta regional police command, Sgt. Prince Dogbatse, told Kasapa News’ Faisal Abdul-Iddrisu that two of the suspects have admitted taking part in the operation.

“Two of the suspects -Nervis Otu Laryea and Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak who are in custody have admitted that they were involved in breaking into the electrical appliances shop in Mamfe Akuapem in the Eastern region where they made away with 60 assorted mobile phones, two sets of a 32′ inches flat-screen television and two sets of a 42′ inches flat-screen television.”

He added that “By their own admission, the operation conducted by four of them, including one Evans and David who are currently at large. The owner of the shop who came here in the company of the police has provided serial numbers that correspond with all 27 phones retrieved from the accused. The three foreign pistols retrieved from them were also used by David, Mubarak, and Laryea on the night of the burglary.”

Sgt. Dogbatse, however, stated that the police are yet to establish the involvement of the third suspect, Ebenezer Osei in the crime as investigations continue ahead of their next appearance in court scheduled for Tuesday, 17th August 2021.