Kumasi — The Nkawie police in the Ashanti Region are holding three persons believed to be members of a syndicate behind recent secret tapes in their custody.

Secret tapes which tend to incriminate some politicians as part of plans to destabilise the forthcoming elections, are notoriously gaining grounds in the country of late.

On Monday October 29, two members of the alleged 30-member syndicate, calling themselves secret tape recorders, were nabbed by the police at the office of the District Chief Executive (DCE) for Atwima Nwabiagya, Nana Asare Bediako, for attempting to blackmail him.

Their names were given as Master Asare and Nana Yaw Duah. A third person was also picked up yesterday by the police.

Narrating the incident to The Chronicle, Nana Asare Bediako disclosed that on Monday he had a telephone call from one of the suspects that they were holding a secret tape, but would only disclose details about it to him when they meet him.

According to Nana Asare, when they came, they told him that the tape contained the voices of the Ashanti Regional Minister, Dr. Kwaku Agyemang-Mensah, and Afrifa Yamoah Ponkoh, Municipal Chief Executive for Ejisu-Juaben, and that they could only drop it without broadcasting it on air, if only the DCE was prepared to pay them GH¢5,000.

The DCE said he had to bargain with them till they agreed to take GH¢1,000.

He revealed that before going into negotiations with them, he had alerted the police who effected their arrest in the course of bargaining.

The Ashanti Regional Police Commander, DCOP Augustine Gyennin, in a telephone interview, confirmed the case to The Chronicle.

He disclosed that his district officer at Nkawie had hinted him about the incident, and that the DCE was yet to give his statement to the police.

The Police Chief also hinted that the Ashanti Regional Crime Officer would take over the case for further investigations.