A manhunt is on to arrest a yet to be identified man said to have severed the left hand of a known mental patient at Nkronful Junction near Kojokrom , Takoradi.

Police say the incident happened on Saturday at about 4pm, and initial investigation suggests the victim, a 44-year old mental patient fond of chasing people about with a cutlass, may have been overpowered by a man he had chased who decided to chop off his hand.

Police say they found the bloodied unnamed victim sitting about five metres away from the severed hand and managed to take a photograph of him, however he dashed into the bush when the police attempted to send him to the hospital.

A hot chase to get him failed, while a search party to rescue him also returned empty handed.