The Police have rescued a 30-year-old man, Bismarck Amo, who was allegedly kidnapped, tortured and held hostage for five days, following an intelligence-led operation that resulted in the arrest of four suspects.The suspects, according to the Ghana Police Service, allegedly demanded GH¢45,000 from the victim’s family after subjecting him to severe torture and threatening to kill him if the money was not paid.The four suspects in custody are Mavis Badu Acheampong, 42, a teacher at Kumasi Girls Senior High School; Charles Doku, 53, a security guard; Oteng Baffour, 31, an electrician; and Kenneth Opoku Kwarteng, alias “Culture,” whose age was not immediately confirmed.
The first three are residents of Breman UGC, while Kwarteng is also a teacher at Kumasi Girls Senior High School.
The Police said the operation, code-named “Operation Rescue the Victim and Arrest the Perpetrators,” was directly coordinated by the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr Christian Tetteh Yohonu, with multiple elite police units deployed across regional borders.
According to preliminary investigations, the incident began on September 3, 2026, when Amo allegedly defrauded Acheampong of an unspecified amount of money.
The Police said Acheampong subsequently allegedly connived with her husband, a senior military officer who is currently outside the country, to lure Amo from his residence at Assin Fosu to Kumasi through a telephone call.
Upon his arrival in Kumasi, the Police alleged that Acheampong, with the assistance of Doku, Baffour and others who are currently at large, forcibly kidnapped Amo.
He was allegedly held at Acheampong’s private residence from September 6 to September 11, 2026, where the Police said he was subjected to severe torture despite his family paying GH¢19,500 in ransom.
The Police further alleged that the suspects used their own mobile phones to communicate with the victim’s family in an attempt to evade police tracking and conceal their digital footprints.
In what the Police described as a disturbing act of violence, the suspects allegedly stripped Amo naked, tied his genitals with a nylon rope and beat him until he sustained serious injuries to his head and genitals.
The alleged acts were reportedly filmed and sent to his family as part of efforts to compel them to pay more money.
According to the Police, the suspects initially demanded GH¢45,000, claiming the money represented the amount allegedly defrauded and expenses incurred in searching for the victim.
The family had already transferred GH¢19,500 through mobile money before the suspects allegedly demanded a further GH¢30,500, threatening to execute Amo if the additional money was not paid.
The victim’s family reported the matter to the Regional Criminal Investigations Department (CID) at Assin Fosu on September 8, 2026, after the initial ransom payment failed to secure Amo’s release.
The Police said the report immediately triggered the intelligence-led rescue operation, with tracking and tactical teams deployed to locate the victim and apprehend the perpetrators.
On September 11, the suspects allegedly attempted to move Amo to another undisclosed location after realising that the police operation was closing in on them.
The Police said the kidnappers instructed a driver to abandon the victim by the roadside, but tactical officers intercepted them during the transfer and successfully rescued Amo.
Four suspects have since been arrested and are assisting the Police with investigations, while other persons allegedly connected to the incident remain at large.
The Police said photographs of the four arrested suspects had been released to the media for publication and assured the public that further updates would be provided as investigations progress.
The suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction.
