Chinese arrested for shooting three Manso Abodom youth

The three, whose names were not  immediately provided, have already been granted police enquiry bail, pending further investigations into their case.

The Chinese were alleged to have been undertaking illegal mining in the concessional area of Finger Mining Limited — a small- scale mining company with legal rights for almost a year, a situation said to have created much tension in the Abodom community and its environs.

Briefing journalists about the arrest, the Bekwai Divisional Police Commander, Chief Superintendent Kwasi Akomea-Apraku, said the youth from Abodom had, on Tuesday 5, 2013, massed up at their chief’s palace, complaining about the rate at which the Chinese had been operating illegal mining in the area.

He said the youth also alleged that the chief of the community had collected money from the Chinese and allowed them to operate illegally in their environment.

Mr Akomea-Apraku said from the chief’s palace, they marched to the camp of the Chinese and allegedly started looting, taking away gold ore, black gold and some amount of money.

According to Chief Superintendent  Akomea-Apraku, as the youth continued to ransack the camp, the Chinese alerted Xiang who was not in the camp at that time.

He said as soon as  Xiang was notified about the presence of the youth in their camp, he quickly rushed there and fired  at the youth, seriously injuring three of them.

Expressing concern about the situation, Chief Superintendent Akomea-Apraku urged the youth not to take the law into their hands, but always be mindful of collaborating with the law enforcement agencies any time they were aggrieved.

He said notwithstanding the circumstances leading to the shooting incident, the police would speed up their investigations and initiate court action against those found to have usurped the law.

Story by George Ernest Asare