IN a rare display of bravado and lawlessness, a group of land guards recently seized three policemen and their armed colleague and kept them in their custody for well over 30 minutes. It took the Intervention of the Police Striking Force to end the hostage crisis and arrest the leader of the guards. The three policemen Detective Sergeant Fred Agyei, Corporal Botchway and Lance Corporal Ahortor who were led by a colleague wielding an AK47 rifle, had gone to effect the arrest of one Victor Asamoah Manu against whom a theft and assault complaint had been made at the New Weija Police Station. The complainant had alleged that he had lost his brand new camera and some amount of money. Instead of arresting the suspect, the policemen were rather rounded by the land guards and locked up. According to a source at the Weija Police District Headquarters, a complaint was lodged by two persons who had gone to take photographs of a construction site on the Accra -Winneba road and were attacked by the land guards, led by Victor Asamoah-Manu. The source said when the four policemen were detailed to the site, they politely invited Victor to accompany them to the police station to answer questions pertaining to the complaint against him. He said Victor violently resisted arrest and ordered the land guards to lock up the policemen in a fenced compound, which they did forcibly. The land guards who were about 50 in number easily overwhelmed the policemen who put up no resistance. The source intimated that one of the complainants, Mr P. Pyne who got alarmed and feared for the life of the policemen, called for assistance from, the Police Striking Force and Accra patrol teams as well as DSP Animpong,who came and forced open the door to free the hostages. Those arrested at the spot mentioned Victor Owusu, as the brain behind the hostage crisis. Source: The Spectator