2 Cops admit extorting money
The two policemen who were arrested for allegedly torturing and robbing a businessman have admitted extorting GH¢1,000 from their victim.
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In separate statements after their arrest, the two, Lance Corporal Richard Osei Adjei of the Accra Regional Criminal Investigations Department and Lance Corporal Joseph Clottey, 30, of the Police Striking Force, 33, were said to have claimed that they arrested the businessman on the suspicion that he dealt in drugs.
Narcotic substance
The Deputy Commander of the Accra Regional Police Command, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Mr Timothy Yoosa Bonga, told the Daily Graphic that the two said in their statements that their suspicion was confirmed when, in the course of their search, a whitish substance was found on the businessman, Muktari Adams.
However, when they later tested the substance, which they had suspected to be narcotics, it turned out to be sugar.
The businessman, who they claimed did not know the findings of their test, continued to plead with them to release him but “that was when they took advantage to demand the money from him”.
Mr Bonga said the docket on the case had since been prepared and forwarded to the court unit and the two would be put before court soon.
The torture
Lance Corporal Adjei and Lance Corporal Clottey were reported to have tortured a businessman and extorted money from him.
They were said to have assaulted Adams by slapping him and using an electric shock gadget on him.
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The victim was also handcuffed and sprayed with pepper at the North Industrial Area in Accra.
Foreign exchange transaction
According to the Deputy Regional Police Commander, the victim had met someone identified only as Asante at the Krokrobite Beach last year and exchanged telephone numbers with him, on the expectation of engaging in foreign exchange transactions in the future.
He said on September 9, 2013, Asante called Adams on phone and requested for $70,000 in exchange for its cedi equivalent.
Mr Bonga said the two arranged to meet at the North Industrial Area for the transaction.
On the said date, Adam was only able to raise $55,000 out of the $70,000 and he handed it over to Asante.
But before he could get the cedi equivalent for his dollars, two policemen arrived in a taxi and accused Adam of dealing in cocaine and engaging in money laundering.
The policemen immediately started torturing the businessman and tried to force him into the waiting taxi, while Asante disappeared with the money.
Abandoned at a drinking spot
They later paraded the victim from one police station to another in Accra and then abandoned him at a drinking spot behind the Police Headquarters.
A month later, the victim spotted one of the policemen at the Accra Regional Police Command and caused his arrest.
In his complaint to the police, the victim said the two policemen had stolen his two mobile phones and GH¢1,000 before abandoning him.
Lance Corporal Adjei, upon his arrest, denied the crime but later investigations into the matter proved otherwise, leading to his arrest on March 3, 2014.
Upon his re-arrest, the suspect mentioned Lance Corporal Clottey as his accomplice.
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The police have since mounted a search for Asante, who is currently on the run.