Police Arrest Policeman After Raid On Judge

Gunmen, in the early hours of Saturday, 8th June, 2013, raided the Tema Community 12 home of a Court of Appeals Judge, Justice Senyo Dzemefe, and made away with personal items. A policeman, Constable Stephen Appenteng Kwenor, who booked for duty at the judge�s residence, but was not around at the time of the raid, has since been detained. Investigations conducted by The Chronicle at Tema revealed that the incident took place at about 0130 hours, after the gangsters overpowered the watchman on duty. The gunmen then advanced to the rooms of the children, and made away with two laptops and four mobile phones, and fled before the police could arrive at the scene. The Tema Regional Criminal Investigations Department (CID) took over the case that same night, and proceeded to the Tema General Hospital to visit the injured watchman, who had been rushed there for treatment, only to meet Constable Kwenor, who was supposed to be on duty at the judge�s residence, claiming that he was also sick. Constable Kwenor reportedly told his superiors that he left the duty point at about 22:00 hours when he fell ill, but surfaced at the hospital at about 04:00 hours the following day, two and half hours after the incident. Sources at the Tema Regional Police Command told this reporter that Constable Appenteng Kwenor�s detention was to enable the police conduct further investigations, especially, when it is established that he did not report sick by calling the charge office to get a relief, and also to facilitate his going to the hospital. The sources again, stated that he might have been informed of the raid, hence rushing to the hospital to cover up. The Chronicle has also gathered from independent sources that for some time now, the judge had been asking the Tema Regional Police Command for a police escort, but his request has not been met. Meanwhile, latest information available suggested that on the instructions of the Tema Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Maxwell Atingane, the police constable gave a caution statement, and was granted bail. This is the second time in less than four months that armed robbers have attacked the home of a judge in Tema. On February 26, this year, then Ashaiman Circuit Court Judge, Mr. Azumah Tsatsu Seyram�s New Dawhenya residence was attacked. Reports we gathered from the ground suggested that the judge and his wife, a Police Corporal, escaped death, as the gunmen fired two shots in succession into their bedroom. Highly placed police sources at Tema said that the incident took place after the gunmen tied the watchman and the judge�s driver. The armed men destroyed the burglar proofs to gain access to the house, but that venture was impossible, so they fired two shots through the window into the master bedroom, hoping to kill the couple � the judge and his wife, Cpl. Paulina. The judge, we gathered, managed to lay land on his mobile phone and called the police, who immediately rushed to the community, but poor visibility did not allow them to reach the scene on time. Our police sources hinted that even though they arrived in the community four minutes after the distress call from the judge, every effort to locate the scene proved difficult. The police at Prampram are still investigating the matter.