Three persons have been arrested in connection with a shooting incident which left four police officers, including a senior officer, wounded in Asiwa in the Bosome Freho District.

They have been identified as 20-year-old  Marcus Anang, Emmanuel  Sekyere, 27 and teenager Emmanuel Appiah, 17.

The three were among a group of people who mounted three roadblocks, laid ambush and fired several shots at police officers on Sunday.

The officers, including a District Police Commander, were on a mission to arrest murder suspects in the Ashanti Region town.

The incident occurred at about 12.a.m in Tuffuorkrom near Nsuta.

Related: Asiwa police chief shot, in critical condition

Asiwa District Commander, ASP Denis Boateng, and four other police personnel sustained severe gunshot wounds.

He was transferred from the New Edubiase Government Hospital to the Accident and Emergency Center at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH).

The four others have been treated and discharged at the same hospital.

They have been identified as Corporal Samuel Achina, driver of the District Commander, Emmanuel Agyemang and Samuel Antwi, both Community Police Assistants, as well as a driver at the Bosome Freho District Assembly, identified as Kennedy Obeng.

The police team, in the company of District BNI officer, were acting on intelligence to arrest suspects believed to have murdered one Moses Obodai who was butchered whilst sending his son to school about two weeks ago.

The suspects who had then escaped mounted three roadblocks and laid ambush on the police unit.

Ashanti Regional Crime Officer, ACP Peter Baba, says the attackers shot at police officers who had then arrested Marcus Anang for possessing a single-barrel gun and three cartridges.

Police explain that the attackers laid ambush and shot into the officers who had attempted to dismantle the second roadblock, injuring the offices in the process. 

"Just as they were getting to the roadblock, they saw one person with the single-barreled gun; they ordered him to lay down that arm which he complied and he was arrested. 

"There was another barrier in front. Before they got to that roadblock, they heard several gunshots and the police commander was shot in the neck and some parts of the face, and then two CPUs [Community Police Unit] also sustained gunshot wounds," ACP Baba told Nhyira FM’s Ohemeng Tawiah.

The Ashanti Regional Commander, DCOP Kwasi Mensah Duku, his deputy DCOP Fred Adu Anim, Regional Crime Officer, ACP Peter Baba and other senior police officers visited the bedside of  injured ASP Boateng at the Komfo Anokye Hospital on Sunday morning. 

According to ACP Baba, ASP Boateng who received the neck and facial gunshot wounds and currently on admission at KATH is recovering.

"His condition seems to be stable. We have been told by the medical doctors on duty that a Urologist is supposed to attend to him, an X-ray is supposed to be taken before they can actually know whether his condition is critical or not," he said.

Meanwhile, the police say it is treating the case an attempted murder of the police personnel.

"We are treating it as attempted murder. The attack on the police is an attempt to murder the policemen who went there.  

"This is a criminal act which we are taking seriously. It was an attempt to murder the police officers who were performing their mandatory duty," ACP Baba added.