A concerned citizen at Techiman in the Brong Ahafo Region has appealed to the Inspector General of Police(IGP) to investigate the, circumstances under which the Techiman Police has given a police handcuff to a civilian in the town, Yaw Prince, to arrest fellow civilians. He has also urged the IGP to constitute a committee to find out why the Techiman police substituted a charge against a suspect arrested for possessing cocaine, to that of assault and later fraud. The complainant, Mr Kwadwo Adjei, who made the petition through the Daily Graphic in Sunyani, said for the past two months, he and members of his extended family in Techiman had not known peace, after challenging the police why they should give a handcuff to Yaw Prince to go about arresting people in the Techiman Municipality and also substituting a charge of narcotic offence for fraud. According to him, Yaw Prince, who was often accompanied by one Sergeant Kwatei, a detective at the Techiman Police Station, often used a Tico car belonging to the policeman for their operations in the night. Mr Adjei alleged that sometimes it was only Prince who embarked on such operations with the support of the Techiman Police, who also gave him the handcuff to arrest people and later send them to the police station, adding that sometimes he demanded, money from those he had arrested and freed them. He alleged that during one of such illegal operations by Yaw Prince, he arrested Kofi Sarfo with cocaine and sent him to the Techiman Police Station. According to Mr Adjei, Sgt Kwatei, who was the investigator in the case, later changed the charge to assault and subsequently to fraud. He alleged that when he went to the Techiman Police Station to crosscheck, since he was an informant in the case, Sgt Kwatei told him that Sarfo was arrested for assault and not for drug offence. Mr Adjei, who claimed that he was not convinced about the response of the investigator, made a report to the Techiman Police Commander, Mr Peprah Addai, and later to the Wenchi Divisional Commander about the activities of the personnel at the Techiman Police Station. He said the Wenchi Divisional Police Commander told him that it was unlawful for any policeman to give a handcuff to a civilian to go about arresting other civilians. Mr Adjei alleged that when he insisted that the Wenchi Police should do the right thing, the policemen took offence and started harassing him and members of his family. He claimed that when he made a report to the Regional Police Commander in Sunyani, he asked him to bring a formal petition on the issue if he thought the police had committed an offence. Mr Adjei said he did not know whether it was a crime to express concern on the use of a police handcuff by a civilian to effect arrests. He, therefore, appealed to the IGP to intervene to stop his continuous harassment by the Techiman Police. When the Daily Graphic contacted the Brong Ahafo Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) James Oppong-Boanuh, on the issue, he confirmed that Mr Adjei had made a formal complaint to him. He said he had ordered an investigation into the allegations levelled against the Techiman Police. Mr Oppong-Boanuh stated that it was against the standard rules of operations of the police service for a policeman to give police accoutrements, such as a handcuff, to a civilian to go and arrest people. He explained that although civilians could make arrest, they could do so without police handcuffs. Source: Daily Graphic