Three were sporadic gunshots at North Suntreso, a second class suburb in the Bantama constituency, when some police officers clashed with residents in the community over 11 piece of land which has been earmarked for allocation to affected traders in the current demolition exercise at the Race Market. Armed police officers from the Sofoline station reportedly engaged some youth in the community, after they resisted attempts by the city authorities to turn that portion of land into an improvised market place. Four people, said to be ring leaders, according to information, were reportedly arrested in the cause of the confrontation, which occurred on Wednesday morning. According to information available to The Chronicle, the disagreement between the residents and the security personnel began when authorities of the Bantama Sub-Metro decided to allocate the piece of land, which was hitherto being used by the community as a refuse dump and a football park to some traders who were affected by the demolition exercise at the Kumasi Race Course. Following this development, some youth in the locality insisted that they would not allow the area, which they claim was the only open space for social gatherings, to be turned into a site for marketing activities. A Kumasi-based broadcast journalist with Angel 96.1FM, Owoahene Addai Mununkum, who was an eyewitness to the incident, told the paper in an interview, that around 6:00 a.m. on Wednesday, some young men went to the park for their daily morning exercises, only to discover that the goal posts had been removed, and the place taken over by some market women, who were busily doing business. Infuriated by the unfortunate development, the young men accosted the market women and managed to drive them away from the place. He said a few minutes later, a team of police personnel and some Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) city guards, who were fully armed, stormed the place, accompanied by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) constituency chairman, Kojo Aratio, who also doubles as the chairman of the Bantama Sub-metro. Owoahene continued that when the police officers arrived at the place, the youth engaged them in a confrontation, resulting in the firing of warning shots, and the subsequent arrest of the four persons, who were said to have instigated the residents. Meanwhile, the NDC chairman for the Bantama constituency has confirmed with Angel FM that the sub-metro had allocated the land for the market women, but denied using aggressive means to acquire the place. According to him, though the sub-metro erred by failing to notify the community, the said land was the property of the government, and for that matter, the KMA had every right to use it. He said because it was an emergency situation, the sub-metro had no choice, but to prepare that piece of land as a makeshift place for the affected traders. As at the time of filing this report, information indicated that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) parliamentary candidate-elect for the Bantama constituency, Henry Kwabena Kokofu, had managed to secure the release of the four persons who were arrested by the police.