The Inspector General of Police David Asante-Apeatu has dispatched a special police investigative team to Kwabeng to unravel the mystery surrounding the death of four persons in a mining pit.
The four were found dead in a river at Kwabeng in the Atiwa District of the Eastern region over the weekend. Some residents alleged the four were brutalised to death by the Operation Vanguard taskforce mandated to end galamsey across the country.
However, the joint military and police task force has denied the report.
The IGP has assured the public that the special team comprising homicide detectives and crime scene management experts from the CID Headquarters will “support the local Police to conduct further investigation to uncover the circumstances leading to the deaths.”
“Preliminary investigation shows that the four who died were conveying an excavator on a pay loader from Anyinam to Extra Gold Mining Concession at Akukuaso, when in the course of their journey, they abandoned the pay loader for reasons yet to be ascertained.
“Their bodies were later found by Police with the assistance of the community, in a pit filled with water by the roadside, which is about five metres away from the point where they abandoned the pay loader.
“The Police Administration assures the public that it is collaborating with stakeholders; particularly the community and families of the deceased in conducting the investigations,” a statement signed by the Director-General for Public Affairs ACP David Eklu said.
The police is appealing to the public to volunteer information.
Meanwhile, the Eastern Regional Security Council is in a meeting with leadership of the Operation Vanguard over the incident.
