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11.04.2007 Crime & Punishment

Sixteen arrested in PM's murder

11.04.2007 LISTEN
By

The Brong-Ahafo Regional Police Command has arrested 16 youth suspected to have murdered the Presiding Member of Goaso, Mr. Anthony Yeboah Boateng on Easter Sunday.

A GNA report quotes Assistant Superintendent of Police Lartey Lawson to have said that the suspects were arrested after a search in their vehicles at a barrier on the road to Atronie.

The suspects are all residents of the town but had bolted after the incident.

The deceased, who was the administrator of the Goaso Government Hospital, was lynched by some unidentified youth at Atronie near the police station and adjacent to the chief's palace.

An eyewitness told the GNA that the late Mr. Boateng, his wife and a Catholic reverend sister were conveying the body of his aunt in his private car from Sunyani to the Goaso government hospital.

On reaching Atronie at about 2100 hours the assailants had barricaded the road for a street jam to celebrate the Easter festivities.

The eyewitness said the youth ordered the deceased, who was driving, to stop which he did and when they went near the vehicle they saw the dead body in the car and suspected him to be a serial killer.

"When Mr. Boateng came out from the vehicle to explain to the angry youth they attacked him with stones and other offensive weapons killing him instantly in the presence of the wife and the reverend sister who looked on helplessly," the eyewitness said.

The youth assaulted the policeman on duty at the police station when he went to save the situation.

He then whisked the deceased's wife and the reverend sister to the safety of the station before rushing to a nearby clinic where he was treated and discharged.

When members of the Regional Security Council (REGSEC) visited the town most residents, particularly the youth, had deserted the town leaving only children and the aged.

The Regional Minister and Chairman of the REGSEC, Mr. Ignatius Baffour-Awuah, condemned the act and consoled the family of the deceased.

He gave the assurance that REGSEC would thoroughly investigate the case to bring the perpetrators to book.

The Regional Minister appealed to the public to provide the police with information for the arrest of the assailants.

The people of Atronie experienced serial killings early this year as a result of which the chief of the town ordered all non-citizens to leave the town.

Source: GNA

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