Robbers Snatch GH�10,000 Loot

John Salifu, a 24-year-old private security man who is said to have master-minded the armed robbery that took place on Sunday June 28, 2009 at the Goil Filling Station at Tantra Hill, Accra, would soon be arraigned together with his five accomplices. The man, who was arrested in his home, alongside some five others, according to the police, hatched the plan to rob his employers. He was said to have informed his accomplices that the place was safe for them to hit since the previous day�s sales was being counted in the shopping mall. Though Salifu was at work during the robbery attack, in the midst of the confusion, he sought refuge in his home where he was arrested later. Salifu and his gang succeeded in robbing his employers of a whopping sum of about GH�10,000.00. The head of security at the filling station, WO I Jacob Donkor (rtd) and the manager, Patrick Abaka, were counting Saturday�s sales when three of the robbers broke into the mall while two others were on guard outside wielding guns. In the ensuing struggle over the money, the two were badly hit on their heads, causing them to bleed profusely. They were rushed to the 37 Military Hospital where they were treated and discharged. DCOP Rose Bio Atingah told Daily Guide that at about 8:00am Sunday June 28, 2009, the police received a distress call and swiftly responded. She said when the police team got to the scene, the armed men, namely Emmanuel Dawutey, 34, Isaac Cobbinah, 24, Selorm Hafe, 24, Frank Sabre, 24, and John Atta Ganaah, 32, had finished their operation and sped off towards Taifa in a Mystical Mercury saloon car they snatched from its driver. The car, while approaching Taifa, ran into a ditch, causing the robbers to abandon it and take to their heels. However, two were arrested on the spot while three others escaped. Residents in the Taifa neighbourhood, realizing the unfolding drama, came out in their numbers to help pursue the robbers.Eventually, one of the robbers, Emmanuel Dawutey, who took cover in a nearby bush, attempted to disperse the crowd by firing warning shots from his hideout; giving the search party a clue to his whereabouts. He was overpowered and arrested together with his pump action gun and a locally manufactured pistol. Later at the Regional Police Headquarters, the three confessed to the crime and revealed that John Salifu was the one who hatched the diabolical plan. They later led police to arrest the two others. DCOP Bio Atingah commended the people of Taifa and urged residents of other areas to emulate them. She reiterated the need for police-public partnership to combat crime. DCOP Rose Bio Atingah, in the company of the Director of Operations at the National Police Headquarters, ACP Boibi-Boi, and the Deputy Regional Commander, ACP Christian Tetteh Yohuno, visited the injured at the 37 Military Hospital and the crime scene. Meanwhile, the police have not recovered the booty yet, since the six are yet to reveal where it is hidden.