A 26-year-old police constable, Emmanuel Sarpong, has been arrested by the Kumasi Central Police for allegedly stealing an iPhone 6 worth GH¢4,000 and belonging to a Chinese national.
[contextly_sidebar id=”eG8PhDEqMASxZcySf9s0yjsxakrX1CMW”]In a swift reaction, the Inspector General of Police has ordered the immediate interdiction and criminal prosecution of the suspect.
The suspect is alleged to have stolen the phone from the victim’s car during a search by the police who were on night patrols in Kumasi.
Constable Sarpong, who passed out from training two years ago and was attached to the Visibility Unit of the Kumasi Police, allegedly admitted the offence during interrogation.
Facts
Briefing the press, the Deputy Ashanti Regional Police Commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Mr Osei Ampofo Duku, said on April 29, 2015, the suspect and three others were on duty at the Parakuo Estates in Kumasi.
As part of their duties, they inspected vehicles for criminal implements.
During their patrol duty, Wei Haimin, who was in the company of his wife, was asked to stop at a checkpoint.
The police asked them to get down to enable the police to conduct a search on their car.
According to ACP Duku, shortly after the couple left the checkpoint, they searched for the iPhone but could not find it.
Then they suspected that it might have been taken by the police.
However, he said, when they drove back to the spot where they had been searched, the police team had left.
ACP Duku said two days later, the Chinese had information that the team that had been on duty at the Parakuo Estates two days earlier had been deployed to the Santasi Roundabout for night patrol duty.
He said Mr Wei proceeded there and asked about the phone from the policemen but they all denied having taken it.
He said with the help of another policeman who was not a member of the team, Mr Wei lodged a complaint at the Kumasi Central Police Station, as a result of which the patrol men who had been on duty at the Parakuo Estates were invited for interrogation.
Admission
ACP Duku said it was during the interrogation that Constable Sarpong admitted taking the phone but said he had given it to someone to sell it for him.
He said the suspect led the police to the phone dealer at Adum where it was retrieved.
He said on the directive of the Inspector General of Police, Constable Sarpong had since been interdicted and would soon face service enquiry, in addition to criminal prosecution.
The culprit’s superior, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Bernard Twum Barima, he said, had also been moved from his post for lack of supervision.
Source: Graphic Online