A NOTORIOUS Kumasi robber, Haruna Hamidu alias Lalas, who is linked with a series of hardcore robberies in the city � including the one which led to the shooting to death of a watchman at Hilltop at Kwadaso � has been nabbed by the police.
The Ashanti Regional Police Command, led by DCOP Kofi Boakye, which has launched an operation to arrest all criminals in the region, acting upon intelligence, apprehended Lalas, who is said to be posing danger at his hiding place at Taabre.
Addressing a press conference in Kumasi on Thursday, ACP Ampofo Duku, Deputy Ashanti Regional Police Commander, said Lalas was part of a group of robbers that shot and killed one Osei Assibey, 50, a watchman, when they stormed Hilltop on a robbery operation around 2:15 am on March 29.
According to him, a CCTV camera in one of the four houses that Lalas and his group of hoodlums attacked at Hilltop captured the face of Lalas who was in a turban, �so the police, acting upon intelligence, tracked and arrested Lalas who is also a taxi driver.�
Two months before the Hilltop robbery incident, ACP Ampofo Duku said Lalas, Yaw Gyamfi, Collins and Easty, together with 17 other robbers, embarked on a dangerous robbery operation at Nkawie where they robbed innocent and unsuspecting people of their valuables.
The police managed to apprehend the 17 other robbers but Lalas, Yaw Gyamfi, Collins and Easty � who are said to be the leaders of the notorious group � escaped with their booty and deadly weapons.
ACP Duku stated that the 17 robbers who were nabbed had been arraigned before court, saying that the police intensified their chase until they arrested Lalas from his hideout at Taabre.
The police officer described the arrest of Lalas as a major achievement for the police in their resolve to clear all robbers from the region.
The Deputy Ashanti Regional Police Commander said the police would not rest on their oars, but intensify its operations to ensure that all criminals were brought to book.
<<Print>>