The five policemen and the soldier on trial at the Tarkwa Circuit Court for conspiracy and extortion have been granted GH�5,000 bail each, with two sureties to be justified.
They are charged with extorting GH�2,000 from a Chinese businessman at Low Cost, a suburb of Tarkwa, on April 7, 2013.
The five policemen are Lance Corporal Sackey Narh Korley, General Constable Kwaku Assah, General Constable Jerrofera Everest, General Constable Richard Ofosu Baah and General Constable Patrick Nimaful, while the soldier is Flight Sergeant Kennedy Otu.
They had since been in police custody and had pleaded not guilty to the charges levelled against them.
A seventh accused person, Richard Nkrumah, was, however, refused bail because he tried to escape after the act but was apprehended on April 11 with the assistance of the Suame Police in the Ashanti Region and escorted to Tarkwa.
He has been remanded and will reappear before the court, presided over by Mr Samuel Obeng Diawuo, on April 29, along with the six others.
When the case was called yesterday, counsel for the accused persons, Messrs Avor Mensah and Bright Biaden, pleaded with the court to grant their clients bail because they live in the barracks and would be available whenever the court needed them.
According to them, granting the accused persons bail would not interfere with investigations because the alleged crime had already been captured on a CCTV camera by the victim.
At an earlier sitting, the prosecutor, Detective Chief Inspector Oscar Amponsah, told the court that on April 8, 2013, the complainant, Dia Meng Sheng, reported to the Divisional CID office in Tarkwa that about 21:30 p.m., on April 8, 2013, five policemen who were dressed in uniform and armed with AK 47 rifles and a civilian went to his house at Low Cost and extorted GH�2,000 from his family.
He said the complainant reported the matter to the divisional commander in Tarkwa, Assistant Commissioner of Police Paul Ayitey.
Detective Amponsah said an officer from the CID was dispatched to view the recordings on the CCTV camera, which showed the accused persons extorting the money. The officer identified the policemen as stationed in Tarkwa.
He said the policemen were arrested and, during interrogation, they admitted the offence and each refunded GH�300 of the money they extorted.
The prosecutor said Flight Sergeant Otu of the Air Force Station in Takoradi was also arrested as an accomplice but he denied his involvement, saying that he was at a drinking spot at Ayempim, near Tarkwa, when Nkurmah, who is his friend, came over and gave him GH�150 to celebrate his birthday.
But investigations revealed that he was part of the gang.
He said Nkrumah, who tried to escape justice, in his caution statement said on the day of the incident, F/Sgt Otu called him at a drinking spot at Ayempim and master-minded the plan that the complainant and some of his compatriots were gambling.
According to the prosecutor, Otu said because the complainant was his friend, he would not like to show up and, therefore, asked Nkrumah to organise some policemen to cause the arrest of the gamblers and extort money from them.
Detective Amponsah said Nkrumah then organised the policemen, with the help of one of the accused persons, and hired two taxis to the complainant�s house for the operation.
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