Kumasi Police Arrest Two Artisans - For Aiding Car Snatchers

Two artisans suspected to be accomplices of car snatchers operating in the Kumasi metropolis have been busted by the police. The two, James Donkor, a sprayer, and Kwabena Gyau, a mechanic, were alleged to have provided services to a car snatching gang to make identification of the stolen cars very difficult. Donkor was arrested on Sunday, December 7, 2014, at his workshop at Nketia, near Asuofua, while he was spraying a taxi cab that had been snatched from its driver earlier in the morning that day. Briefing the press about the arrest, the deputy Ashanti Regional Commander of Police, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Osei Ampofo-Duku, said on December 7, 2014 about 2:30 a.m., a driver, Bismark Oduro, lodged a report at the Suntreso Police Station that his Daewoo Martiz car, with registration number CR1235-14, had been forcibly taken away from him by two armed robbers at Adoato, also in Kumasi. That same morning, ACP Ampofo-Duku said, the police had intelligence that the car had been sent to Donkor�s workshop at Nketia for it to be sprayed. ACP Ampofo-Duku said the police proceeded to the garage with the complainant where he identified the car, adding that by then all the stickers on it and the number plates had been removed. A search conducted at the garage led to the discovery of an Opel Corsa taxi, with registration number AW7309-13, which was snatched from its driver, Kwadwo Owusu Ansah, on December 5, 2014 at Asuoyeboa SSNIT flats about 1a.m.. Also found at the garage was another Nissan Almera, which had also been resprayed blue and its number plate removed. ACP Ampofo-Duku said when Donkor was asked about the owners of the cars, he told the police that they were sent to him by a particular customer but failed to lead the police to the said customer or provide further information about him. Gyau�s role According to ACP Ampofo-Duku, if some of the stolen cars had mechanical problems, Gyau did the repair works before he sent them to Donkor for spraying. He said if the two men failed to lead the police to the suspected robbers, they would face the law.