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Three soldiers said to be members of the anti-galamsey taskforce, Operation Vanguard, are in the grip of the police for allegedly extorting monies from some residents in Tarkwa in the Western Region.

The three, said to be from the Airforce Base in Takoradi allegedly took both cash and gold from the gold dealers in the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipality.

Their names and service numbers have been given as AC2 Oliviete Solomon, No.207333; AC2 Agantwuo Agana, No. 207323; and Joseph Osei Abraham, No. 207356 AC2.

According to a Citi FM report, the soldiers on board a taxicab on Saturday evening went to Aboso, a mining community in the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipality, and combed around gold buying shops, where they extorted both cash and gold from unsuspecting dealers.

Members of the Aboso community, who were suspicious of the operations of the soldiers, raised an alarm, mobilized and arrested them.

The soldiers were taken to the Aboso Police Station and later handed over to the Tarkwa Divisional Police Command.

Some GH¢900 and two small pieces of gold together with their ID cards have been seized from them.