The Chronicle’s independent investigation has uncovered that the Police Intelligence Department (PID), otherwise referred to as Anti-Robbery Squad, since its establishment and operationalisation sometime last year April, has not only revolutionised police operations but also calmed and sanitised the system.
The investigation, carried across the country, revealed that places which hitherto were inaccessible to the public due to activities of criminals is now a thing of the past.
The presence of members of the squad is a deterrent to the criminal elements.
It was common phenomenon that market women commuting on certain highways in the country could not undertake such trips without armed security escorts.
The Bole, Bamboi, Sawla, Tuna and Kalba roads, immediately come to focus
The Donkorkrom Afram Plains, Akatsi, Sogakope and Diare in the Sevelugu district and the Tamale to Bolgatanga stretches are but a few hot beds for armed gangsters who terrorise motorists transporting peace-loving citizens going about their businesses.
Same cannot be said of today, with the presence of the squad dotted across the regions to pick intelligence on criminal elements before they spring any surprise.
Theirs is to take the fight to the dissidents, which has for now unsettled and rendered their enterprise unattractive, hence the current peace we are enjoying, The Chronicle was told.
No wonder, paramount chiefs and other authorities whose jurisdictions fell to the bandits and are now free from ‘captivity’ can now sigh a huge relief.
The Spear Of The Nation brings activities of the Anti Robbery Squad to the public and it begins with the Volta Region.
The arrest of suspects involved in the robbery and murder of Mandela Zanu, a mobile money vendor at Akatsi on June 20, 2023 and the apprehension of notorious men in the attack at Alive Gas filling station, off the Sogakope-Adidome road, which left one attendant dead, cannot be relegated to the background.
Nabbing of suspects involved in two cases of attacks on Makafui and Sons Lotto Company, the arrest of suspects in narcotic trafficking, who were handed over to the Drug Law Enforcement Unit (DLEU) add to the roll call.
The most recent success by the PID in the region happened to be the surveillance on activities of a fetish priest at Lete Wute, near Tokor in the Ketu South Municipality, who killed a lady from Kasoa for rituals. The victim had visited the priest for spiritual support to enhance her business. These are among the list of achievements by the PID.
In the midst of these, and as expected in human institutions, there are some persons who for whatever reasons hold the view that the unit should not exist.
Meanwhile, the police hierarchy has directed the Police Professional Standards Bureau (PPSB) to investigate the source of a correspondence, which is floating around, that certain top ranking persons in the service are involved in some shady deals.
The top hierarchy, according to a dependable source, has also tasked the forensic unit to identify the equipment used in producing the material.
The material is directly attacking the hierarchy of the service, alleging transportation of cannabis in the Volta Region and elsewhere across the country.
Stay tuned.
