Missing excavators: Police arrest five Chinese nationals, Ellembelle DCE granted bail
At least five Chinese nationals have been arrested in connection with the Ellembelle missing excavators, the police said on Thursday (8 September).
The yet to be named suspects were rounded up “in a special police operation conducted between the night of 7 September till the dawn of 8 September 2022,” a terse police statement posted on Facebook said.
The police are yet to provide further details.
Meanwhile, the District Chief Executive (DCE) of Ellembelle in the Western Region, Kwasi Bonzo, who was detained by the police for alleged obstruction over the controversial missing excavators, has been granted bail.
He is expected to appear before the Takoradi Habour Circuit court on Thursday. He has been charged with assault, conspiracy to assault, resisting arrest and two others.
The missing excavators became a subject of controversy in the area.
Bonzo had earlier claimed that police in the area failed to protect the excavators seized from some illegal miners in the area, hence the earth-moving equipment could not be found.
Police in the area rejected the DCE’s claim and started investigating him .One of the missing excavators was subsequently found on Tuesday.
“A team of operations and intelligence officers working day and night discovered the missing excavator several kilometres into a forest within the Ellembelle District.”
Police in a statement claimed Bonzo “organised and led some thugs to attack the police and obstructed the operation.”
