Residents of Larteh in the Eastern Region are living in fear following alleged intimidation and extortion by four policemen stationed in the community. Reports say a number of the people of the town have sought refuge in near by towns and villages. According to some of the residents, who spoke to the Gye Nyame Concord newspaper at their new bases in Akropong, Mampong and Mamfi, their lives are no longer guaranteed since the people who are supposed to protect them are rather unleashing ‘terror’ on them. They told the newspaper that the police had become foes instead of friends, due to their habitual arbitrary use of force and power to maltreat them One of the victims of the police’s acts, Moses Larbi, said the four policemen stationed in the town did not only molest them but also extorted money from them. According to him they take amounts not less than GH¢6 for bail depending on a person’s negotiation skills, failure to pay might lead a person to spend days in cell. He said it had become lawful for a person to just be thrown into cell without being told his/her offence or any statement taken, adding that the excuse the police give “is that if your statement is taken you will be bailed and so the statement is deliberately delayed in order to delay one from getting bail”. ‘This is the police own way of inflicting instant justice and punishment”, Mr Larbi stressed Moses Larbi mentioned Corporal Baah as the notorious policeman among them saying he (Baah) recently fought openly in public with one of the resident because the two were following one young girl. When contacted, the Divisional Police Commander of Akropong, Francis Esong, confirmed the the intimidation and extortion being by the police in Larteh and promised to take action against the police. “I am aware of petitions being sent by the various youth clubs in the town and I will put my feet on the ground to see that the name and the integrity of the service is maintained”, he emphasised. Source: Gye Nyame Concord