Sierra Leone Police has termed as ‘fake’ a press release purporting to come from their office warning Aloish Deen-Tarawallie, popularly known as Arata.
The Deputy Head of media in the Sierra Leone Police (SLP), Assistant Inspector General of Police, Samuel Saio Conteh denied the report.
Speaking to Salone Fact Checker in an exclusive interview on Friday, Conteh said they have not made any warning statement against Arata nor have they written a press release in relation to the said individual who has been controversial in recent times in the country.
“Any press release that comes from the Police is written by me and the head of media in the Sierra Leone Police, through the instruction of the Inspector General of Police,’’ he said, adding that the ones signing it are director of Community Affairs, AIG Kalia Sesay or the inspector general of police.
The said press release which was shared in several social media platforms went viral after photos of Arata looking severely beaten up in an encounter with other thugs at San San Gron in Murray Town surfaced on social media.
The incident left Arata hospitalized, though the fake press release said Arata smeared blood on his face to seek sympathy from his political sponsors.
Conteh added that as an institution that is responsible for security of the state, they will not compromise any such threat coming from a citizen as nobody should take the law into their hands.
Arata a young man, who mostly describes himself as a supporter of the ruling Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) has been a trending figure on various social media platforms; from Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and even on the traditional media; threatening to beat up celebrities and wreaking havoc on people that are critical of his party.