The Ashanti regional Police Commander DCOP Kofi Boakye has promised to arrest the police officers who allegedly beat to death a 22-year-old man in Krofrom in the Ashanti region if it is established that they indeed committed the act.
Chaos has erupted in the Kumasi suburb following a case of mistaken identity that led to the death of the man; residents describe as innocent.
According to Ultimate FM’s Isaac Bediako Justice, the Police Friday dawn arrested the victim known as Tawiah who was suspected to be a criminal being chased by the Police in an earlier incident.
According to Justice, several calls by the residents that Tawiah was not a criminal and was a case of mistaken identity fell on deaf ears as the Police officers brutally assaulted the victim with batons and dragged him on the streets till he became unconscious.
He was later bundled into a Police van and sent to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital for treatment but was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital.
News of Tawiah’s death angered the youth who have taken to the streets burning car tyres and blocking roads in the community which is near the Manhyia Palace – seat of the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.
Some of the youth have also vandalized vehicles and have vowed to attack the Police for killing an innocent man.
Addressing irate residents of the community, the regional commander said the perpetrators will not go scot free.
“Let’s wait for a postmortem to establish what exactly happened…if it shows that he was hit in the ribs and died as a result of that, I promise I will get whoever did it arrested. The Policemen will be arrested and charged with murder if it is proven that they did it”.
