The Tafo-Pankrono Police have debunked allegations that a 52-year-old man died in their custody, where he was being kept, after he was arrested.
Corporal Prince Dogbatse with the Tafo Police Command told Starr News “The deceased who happened to be in custody, having himself involved in narcotic issue did not die in police custody, he died while receiving treatment in the Tafo Government Hospital.
The 52-year-old man, Boaza Tongo, was reported to have died in police custody, two weeks after he was arrested during a police swoop in a drug peddling “ghetto” in the Tafo Municipality.
He added that the suspect fell unconscious and was rushed to the hospital.
Speaking to Regina Borley Bortey on the Starr Midday News Monday, he said the deceased fell sick while on remand in police custody and was subsequently rushed for medical attention where he died while receiving treatment.
When quizzed on an eyewitness claim that the deceased died on his [eyewitness] laps in the police custody, Corporal Dogbatse said that his office could not independently verify the allegation, and so investigation would have to be conducted into the incidence.
“No member of his family showed up at the police station, mind you this person was arrested in a hideout dealing in narcotic drug and upon the arrest no relative of his was at the police station.
In fact, he was not arrested alone, it was a swoop that was conducted, and he was part of those that were arrested, so indeed they were supposed to have appeared before the court today, except for this unfortunate incident, in which we sympathize with the relatives”’, he said.
As to whether any attempt was made by the police to contact the deceased’s relatives, he said “Yes, the police made contact with the zongo chief in order to get relations to come over, because this person has been with the police for about two weeks, but the service did not get anything concrete to work with.
“We will not grudge anybody over any allegation, but thankfully deaths of the sort would always be investigated, and pathology report will surely be provided to clarify what the real cause of death is. The police have no hand in the death of this suspect”, he stressed.
Tensions are still high as the youth in the municipality demand answers from police officers on the cause of death of the man.
Corporal Dogbatse urged the family of the deceased to remain calm as the command institutes investigation into the incident.
Security Analyst, Adam Bonah said the law allows the police to keep suspects for just 48 hours, and so the suspect should have been taken to court, to be remanded into police or prison custody.
He said that if the suspect was in custody for more than two days, then police professional standard had to be looked at.
“When a swoop is conducted, under such circumstance, what some of us within the security space, or have knowledge within the security space, says is that, when you arrest these people, kindly take them to the hospital, get them scanned.
Because some of these persons, if indeed they are dealing in narcotics, the moment you attempt to arrest them they would ingest some of these narcotic drugs, so the longer you keep them in your custody, and if there is a leak of a sort into their internal organs, they will pass on”, he said.
“I am only speculating but I think that incident of deaths in the hands of police in the Ashanti Region is something as a nation would have to look at, so that one day we won’t get up and the whole of the region is in turmoil”, he added.
Source: Ghana/Starrfmonline.com/103.5FM
