Three persons including a Burkina Faso national, Hamidu Hammond, have been arrested for engaging in illegal mining in the country.

The arrest was made Wednesday at Dorimon in the Wa West District of the Upper West Region and was possible due to the works of the Operation Vanguard squad in the community.

Police in the region, reported that soldiers of the Operation Vanguard squad based in the region had a tip-off of activities about the illegal mining in the community.

Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP ), Mr Francis Aboagye Nyarko, said the gang of illegal miners equipped with gold detectors among others were operating in the forest of Dorimon in the Wa West District when the Operation Vanguard squad swooped on them.

Hammond, the Burkinabe national who allegedly is the ring leader of the gang tried to resist arrest and sustained injuries as a result of a scuffle that ensued between the gang and the police.

He has been hospitalised but seven other members of the gang managed to escape arrested while two others have been arrested and are assisting police with investigations.

DCOP Nyarko also said the gold detectors and digging implements among other equipment that were being used in the operation had been confiscated.

The police, however, called on the public to assist them with investigations on the matter by providing them with any information that would lead to the arrest of the remaining gangsters.