The death of a 32-year-old cripple, Israel Kobla Amenume, one of the suspects arrested in last Thursday's clashes at Anloga, has sparked off claims and counter-claims between the police and the cell team leader. While "the cell team leader, Lambert Yao Dzokoto, maintains that Amenume died in police custody in Ho, police sources say he rather died in hospital. According to Dzokoto, Amenume died in his arms as he was trying to resuscitate him after he had collapsed from suspected beatings. The police have denied this, and said Amenume collapsed and was rushed to hospital, where he died. Dzokoto told the Daily Graphic that Amenume had been behaving abnormally in the morning and had refused to eat his ration of kenkey and pepper which was served him. He said in the evening, he also refused to eat supper and gave it out to another suspect. Not long after, he said, Amenume started gasping for breath and blood started oozing from his nostrils. He said when the attention of the policeman on duty was drawn, he said he was going to bring a vehicle to convey Amenume to hospital. By the time he returned with the vehicle, Amenume had already died and it was his lifeless body which was con¬veyed to the hospital, claimed Dzokoto. When the Volta Regional Police Commander, DCOP Bernard Dery, was contacted, he confirmed the death but added that Amenume did not die in police custody but rather at the Volta Regional Hospital. Mr Dery told the Daily Graphic that Amenume had refused to eat his supper and consequently started behaving abnormally and hitting his head against the walls of the cell following which he collapsed and was rushed first to the Ho Municipal Hospital. He said Amenume was later referred to the Volta Regional Hospital, where he died. A source at the Volta Regional Hospital, who pleaded anonymity, told the Daily Graphic that Amenume was already dead when he was sent to the hospital. Meanwhile, the curfew that has been imposed on the Anlo area remains in force. However, a group of youngmen in Keta on Sunday night mounted road blocks and burnt lorry tyres on the street to register their protest at their area being included in the curfew when the incident had occurred at Anloga. The police and military on the ground, however, moved in quickly and brought the situation under control. Source: Daily Graphic