By RABIU SANI

The Police Command in Kano State, says it has arrested 17 kidnap suspects and 225 other suspected criminals in the past four weeks in the state.

Mr Abdullahi Haruna, the Public Relations Officer of the command, made the disclosure at a news conference on Friday in Kano.

Haruna said the suspects were arrested between Sept. 9 and Oct. 16 at different times and locations in the state under the Operation PUFF ADDER.

He said N1.3 million was recovered from a suspected kidnapper, a teacher, who demanded the ransom from his victim.

The Commissioner disclosed that the command arrested 225 suspects for various crimes, including a notorious motorcycle snatcher who had snatched about 500 motorcycles in the past 12 months in the state.

Other notable operations were the arrest of a phone snatching syndicate who murdered a physiotherapist and a youth drug addict for attempting to kill his mother.

Haruna said the command recovered arms, drugs, cars, motorcycles, tricycles, phones and other items from the suspects.

Breaking down the figure, the Commissioner said the suspects included 24 armed robbers, 72 thugs, 10 tricycle snatchers, 16 fraudsters, motorcycle snatchers, six drug dealers and five rapists.

The spokesman said the command recovered two AK47 rifles, one pistol, five Dane guns, 96 knives, five cars, 9 tricycle and 17 motorcycles from the suspects.

Other recovered items are 13 assorted bags and 222 parcels of cannabis valued at over N2 million, three cartons of Codeine valued at N360,000, and two laptops, among others.

He added that most of the crimes were committed by the suspects using motorcycles and tricycles, and warned motorbike hiring agents to be wary and desist from giving their bikes to criminals.

Commenting on rape incidents, the Commissioner said the rate of rape cases has dropped significantly in the past months in the state.

He said 18 rape cases were recorded in the third quarter as against 24 and 21 cases recorded in the first and second quarter of the year respectively.

Haruna attributed the feat achieved by the command to effective coordination and support by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr Mohammed Adamu, as well as effective community policing strategies adopted by the command.

He urged the people to provide credible information to the command on suspicious persons and movement in their communities to enable it protect lives and property in the state. (NAN)

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