WANTED ROBBER GUN DOWN

By Felix Engsalige Nyaaba

A suspected armed robber described by the police as notorious, was gunned down on Friday morning at Akim-Oda in the Eastern Region, by the Accra Regional police while exchanging gun fire with the police.

The  body of the deceased identified as Samsundeen Attukwei Clottey, was conveyed from Oda to the Accra regional police head office.

The body has since been deposited at the Police Hospital mortuary for autopsy.

The Accra Regional Police Commander, Commissioner of Police (COP) Patrick Eden Timbillah, told the Media on Friday, that Clottey was one  of  a four member gang of armed robbers that had been on the police wanted list for committing several robberies.

He said Clottey and his gang, two of which had been arrested were also said to have been captured on a number of close circuit television sets at some Forex Bureaus and some shops committing robberies.

Clottey, according to the commander, had been known in police circles for well over some years as a hardened criminal, saying, he had terrorized many , especially expatriates and  foreign business investors who comes into the country.

“This Samsundeedn man and his gang have  been changing their trend of operation, they  targets  expatriates and others, but they will fail, if they change, we too will change”, he stressed.

COP Timbillah said for some time now the police had had reports of armed robbers attacking people like expatriates, breaking into people’s shops and Forex Bureaus, particularly in the Dzorwulu and Achimota areas in Accra and other places.

The regional commander said the police had information on the hideout of Clottey after two of his gang members were arrested on Wednesday February 6, 2013.

The two arrested robbers, he said were alleged to be member of the gang of robbers who spearheaded various crimes including the robbery of Albert Kan Dapaah, former chairman of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament.

COP Timbillah further told the media that the police had been trailing Clottey for years but anytime he sensed danger, he (Clottey) went into hiding.

He said apart from his intense robbery in Accra, Clottey travelled to other regions with his gang to carry out robberies.

He said it was after the police extracted information from the two arrested robbers, Jalilu Masahamed, 24 and Mamadu Amadu, also 24, that led the police team to the hideout of Clottey at Oda in the Eastern region.

According to COP Timbillah, upon seeing the police, Clottey pulled a locally manufactured pistol and started firing at them. The police returned the fire and in the process he was killed and the body brought to Accra.
One of the member of the gang escaped arrest and the police commander said effort was been made to arrest him, saying that “where ever he is now, he should voluntarily surrender to the police.”

At the hideout of Clottey, the police retrieved one locally manufactured pistol, four live bullets, two Crossbars and a screw driver.

The Regional Commander appealed to the general public to volunteer with information, adding that crime combat is a collective responsibility and that the police need the public assistance to be able to flash out criminal in the country.