Techiman — Drama unfolded at Tanoso, a suburb of Techiman in the Brong Ahafo Region, last Friday, when the police, who have been accused of taking a GH¢200 bribe from a suspect before granting him bail, drove a vehicle with registration number ER 763W to the hospital, where the latter was being treated as a result of the torture he received from the former, to take a statement from him.

Though taking bribe from a suspect before granting him bail is a criminal offence, the officers in black uniform ignored it, and rather used the powers entrusted in their hands by the state to pursue the suspect for exposing their unprofessional behaviour.

Suspect Kwabena Owusu was arrested a couple of days ago for quarreling with his ex-wife. The police claim he was behaving like a mad man, and, therefore, chained him to a pole in the scorching sun.

After being in that position for hours, the suspect requested that the police allow him attend to nature's call, but the peace officers refused, claiming that he would run away. They instead, asked him to ease on himself.

The suspect had no option than to ease on himself, as he could no more hold the faeces back. After this embarrassment, the police called a volunteer who washed his body for a fee of GH¢20. Later, the police granted him bail, after they had extorted GH¢200 from his family.

Following the publication of the ordeal and the illegal money taken from him by the police by The Chronicle, the peace officers hurriedly put the GH¢200 bribe money in an envelope and handed it over to the suspect. They also added in the same envelope a summons for him to appear in court the following day.

All along, the police had not taken a statement from the suspect, and only rushed to his house on the day he was to appear before court to take a statement from him. When they were told that the suspect had gone to seek medical attention, they followed up to the hospital to forcefully take the statement from him.

The Chronicle, however, gathered that the Medical Doctor, after examining the suspect, wrote to the court that he was not fit to stand trial that day. The note from the doctor forced the Tuobodom court to adjourn the case to June 22, this year.