When asked by State Counsel to explain to the court what transpired during the arrest of Abdoulie Jallow, the mechanic, Deputy Superintendent of Police Lamin Saidykhan of the Gambia Police Force (GPF) boldly stated: “We told the mechanic that since he claimed not to know where the second accused person lives, despite having received the vehicle from him for maintenance, we would do everything possible to ensure that the second suspected armed robber is arrested before nightfall.”
Continuing his testimony as Prosecution Witness 1 (PW1) in a case that has drawn significant public attention, Superintendent Lamin Saidykhan told the court: “We used our skills to locate the second accused person. As seasoned investigators, we applied our investigative techniques and also used the second accused’s phone number to trace him.”
When questioned about what transpired during the arrest of the second accused, Supt. Saidykhan explained: “When we arrested him, we asked about his mechanic, and he confirmed that he was the one who had given the mechanic his vehicle for servicing.”
He added: “We then proceeded to the Anti-Crime Unit (ACU) of the Gambia Police Force (GPF) for further investigation.
“We showed the accused footage from the El Hella shop and questioned him about the man dressed in black seen in the video, asking whether he was the one pointing a gun at the victim. He was also asked about the second individual in the footage, and he confirmed that it was Abdoulie Jallow, the first accused, who was later spotted in Barra.”
Supt. Saidykhan continued: “We discovered that the first accused person has changed his SIM card and replaced it with a new one. The first accused person later came to Serrekunda. We arrested his girlfriend, knowing that if we didn’t detain her, we would lose the suspect. Just ten minutes later, Abdoulie Jallow was arrested. Both suspects were then escorted to the ACU of the GPF, where the investigation panel was stationed.”
He further testified: “Our next step was to search the second accused’s house in Busumbala. We found his wife there, and during the search, we recovered almost four hundred thousand dalasis, and almost five hundred thousand CFA currency. This amount was recovered in the presence of his wife. In fact, additional money was also recovered from the wife of the second accused.
“We then questioned him about the whereabouts of the clothes he wore on the day of the armed robbery and the firearm used during the incident. We later learned that they had a separate house used for planning their operations. This house is located in Banjul, behind Banjul Pharmacy. We went there with the second accused.”
“During the search, we recovered two pistols and nine rounds of ammunition (not live rounds), black coats, two caps, two used face masks, and plastic straps. All these items were recovered in the presence of the second accused and a Malian national named Yerro.
“A separate search was also conducted at the residence of the first accused, Abdoulie Jallow, where a substantial amount of money was recovered, including GMD 222,000 and CFA 770,000.”
Supt. Saidykhan was quick to clarify that not all the money was recovered directly from the first accused, as some was found with family members.
He stated that a total of GMD 575,000 was recovered from both accused persons, along with CFA 1,235,000.
The case was adjourned till 13 October for the continuation of PW1’s evidence-in-chief.
