The Western Regional Command of the Ghana Police Service has begun investigations into allegations that one of the District Commanders, ASP Alex Asubonteng Donkor has been extorting money from illegal chainsaw operators before releasing them. ASP Asubonteng, who is in charge of the Nsuea District in the Wassa West District is alleged to have extorted various sums of money ranging from 300,000 to 6 million cedis at different times from the illegal chainsaw operators before releasing the boards to them. Those who could not pay the money being demanded upon their arrest would have their logs seized and sold on the open market. In a two page petition sent to the Regional Commander and copied to the Inspector General of Police (IGP), the Minister of Interior and the Divisional Commander at Tarkwa, Mr. Enoch Cudjoe, the Chief Farmer at Trebuom in the Mpohor Wassa East District, said ever since he assumed office in the District, ASP Asubonteng's actions had always been influenced by his own parochial interests and not that of the nation. Mr. Cudjoe, who said he had evidence to prove all the allegations, said ASP Asubonteng had been moving from one village to the other tracking down illegal chainsaw operators. According to Mr. Cudjoe, upon an arrest, the ASP would seize the logs and sell them without any reference to the Forestry Commission who are mandated by law to do so. According to the petition, somewhere in October 2006, the Police Officer took 1 million cedis from one Emmanuel Akadee before releasing his illegal sawn boards to him. In December the same year, ASP Asubonteng was again accuse by the petitioner of taking 300,000 cedis from one Christian at Ampeasem village before releasing his boards to him. Mr. Cudjoe further alleged that in February this year, ASP Asubonteng also took 2 million cedis from another victim called Assipi when he was returning from the inauguration of the Community Watch Dog Committee at Trebuom. "Assipi had to pay the said amount before his illegal sawn boards were released to him", the petitioner said adding that sometimes, the Peace Officer would trace the illegal chainsaw operators to the bush and demand his share of the i1legal sawn boards. According to the petition, the ASP had connived with some of the Chiefs in the area to pursue the agenda. He said early this year, Asubonteng arrested some boys at Trebuom for indulging in illegal logging. However after the intervention of the chiefs, the boys were released. This time he did not take any money from them. He said again on May 11th this year, the Police District Commander brought a Kia vehicle with registration number WR 946 X to one of the villages in the Trebuom area at night and seized over 200 pieces of illegal sawn timber boards. He added that when the illegal operators were not able to pay the amount demanded by him, he sold the wood at Agona Nkwanta in the Ahanta West District without the consent of the Forestry Commission. He himself drove in a land rover. "In view of these serious allegations, I am praying your high office to institute an investigation into the matter and I will be of help to the team," Enoch Cudjoe concluded in his petition. When contacted on his cell phone on Monday this week, ASP Alex Asubonteng Donkor would neither deny nor confirm the allegations as contained in the petition. According to him, he had sent his written response to his Regional Commander and has therefore given a direction to contact the Commander for his side of the story. The Regional Commander, Commissioner Duku Arthur confirmed that his office had received a petition against ASP Alex Asubonteng Donkor but said he had forwarded it too his Regional Crime Officer for investigations. He did not go into details of the petition. Source: The Chronicle