Crime Combat In Two Regions: Police Impound 919 Motorbikes

The Police in the Ashanti and Upper East regions have clamped down on the use of unregistered motorbikes as part of efforts to curb crime, ensure discipline on the roads and reduce road traffic accidents in the two regions.
In all, 919 unregistered motorbikes were impounded in the two regions.

While the Police impounded 792 motorbikes at the end of a four-day exercise carried out in all the 15 divisions in the Ashanti Region, 116 unregistered motorbikes and 11 motorised tricycles have been impounded by four district and divisional police commands in the Upper East Region.

Ashanti

The Ashanti Regional Police Public Relations Officer, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Mr. Godwin Ahianyo, told the media that the exercise was also part of the region’s effort to fight violent crimes and make the region safe for the residents.

Subsequent to that, he said all the divisional commands also conducted swoops at the various suspected dens of the criminals in the region and arrested 396 suspects.

He said the suspects had since been screened and profiled and those suspected to have been involved in criminal activities, arrested and charged.

He said while a number of them had been granted bails, others had been remanded into prison custody and were facing trial.

In the Upper East Region, the motorbikes and tricycles were seized in Kassena Nankana, Builsa North, Bawku and Bolgatanga municipalities.

The exercise was part of measures initiated by the Upper East Regional Police Command to ensure that the various districts and divisional commands in the districts and municipalities in the region carried out series of operations, including dawn swoops to seize and impound unregistered motorbikes and motorised tricycles such as “Mahama-can-dos”.

The Public Affairs Officer of the Upper East Regional Police Command, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), Mr. David Fianko-Okyere,made this known to the Daily Graphic at Bolgatanga.

He explained that the exercise was part of the general security strategies put in place by the Command to nip crime in the bud, particularly the use of unregistered motorbikes to embark on highway robberies by armed men which had become a common feature in robberies.

ASP Fianko-Okyere further stated that the respective owners of the seized motorbikes and tricycles had been asked to produce documents showing the machines belonged to them.

Breakdown

Giving a breakdown of the exercise, ASP Okyere, observed that at Navrongo in the Kassena Nankana Municipality, 16 motorbikes and four motorised tricycles were impounded and their “supposed owners were asked to go to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) to register the bikes and bring the documents for inspection”.

At Sandema in the Builsa North Municipality, the exercise was carried out between 7 a.m. and 11 a.m, and 21 unregistered motorbikes and one Mahama-can-do were seized.

At the Bawku Divisional Police Command, personnel from the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) and Formed Police Unit (FPU) impounded 29 unregistered motorbikes and six motorised tricycles.

CCTV Cameras

ASP Okyere further revealed that the Regional Police Command in August started installing CCTV cameras at vantage points, including markets, commercial streets, the main Bolgatanga-Navrongo highway, among other places, all in a bid to curb and reduce crime to the barest minimum.