Police killed 7 innocent citizens: families dispute robbery claims

Some relatives of suspected armed robbers shot and killed by the police in the Ashanti region massed up at the regional police command, Wednesday, to demand justice. The police have maintained all seven, killed on Tuesday, were suspected robbers. But families of three of the suspects accuse the police of wrongfully killing their relatives. Three of the deceased have been identified to be residents of Aboabo and Asawasi in the Asokore Mampong municipality. The Municipal Chief Executive, Alhaji Halidu Seidu, led family members of the deceased to meet with the police commander on Wednesday. The families want in-depth investigation into the matter, insisting their relatives were not robbers. Meanwhile, the MCE has asked the agitated youth of the area to remain calm for the police to conclude its investigations. “Once the police has commenced investigations into the matter, we should leave the work for them to do and come out with their findings before we do a surgical analysis of the outcome. I call on all the youth in the municipality to remain calm until we hear from the police before we know what next to do”. Regional police commander DCOP Kwesi Mensah Duku, at a media briefing, said the officers were compelled to return fire after the suspected robbers opened fire on them. He explained that, they picked some intelligence last week that some armed men have planned to attack and rob residents and mining sites at Manso Nkwanta. “Upon receipt of the information, the police deployed some team to patrol Anwiankwanta and Manso Nkwanta. During the patrol on Tuesday, a Toyota Corolla with registration number BA 294 – 15 and an unregistered motorbike driving towards the Manso Nkwanta direction were signaled to stop but the occupants refused and started firing at the police. The police also returned fire which led to the unfortunate death of the seven”. DCOP Duku however confirmed that investigations have commenced into the killing of the suspects. [caption id="attachment_92035" align="aligncenter" width="605"] Regional police commander DCOP Kwesi Mensah Duku told the media investigation into the killings has begun[/caption] “We have started with our investigations but we will like to inform the general public and those who gave the information to us that they should continue to partner with the police to fight crime in the region”. The police on Tuesday gunned down seven persons alleged to be engaged in armed robbery attacks at Manso Poano in the Ashanti region. The operation comes almost a week after two police officers were shot by armed robbers who attacked a passenger bus in the Manso area. One of the officers died. A team of police officers was later deployed to the area to help arrest the robbers. On Tuesday, seven dead men packed in the bucket of a pick-up vehicle were conveyed to the Ashanti regional police command and paraded as armed robbers. According to the police, several arms and ammunitions were retrieved from the vehicle of the deceased. By Ibrahim Abubakar and Chelsea Effa Frempa | 3news.com]]>