Two policemen have been interdicted for failing to rescue their colleague when he came under attack by some youth in the Kumawu area of the Ashanti Region last Friday.
Constable Isaac Boiatey and Constable Evans Owusu were on duty with Corporal Sylvester Berhene at the Won Akotosu snap checkpoint near Kumawu in the Ashanti Region last Friday.
Corporal Berhene came under attack in the line of duty and so the two policemen who were on duty with him have been interdicted for their seeming failure to rescue their colleague, subdue the attackers and get them arrested.
They have therefore been referred to the Police Professional Standards Bureau (PPSB) for an investigation into their professional conduct.
The Director of Police Public Affairs, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Grace Ansah-Akrofi made the interdiction known in a press statement issued Sunday morning (April 9, 2023).
Meanwhile, a sixth suspect has been arrested to bring the total number of suspects in police custody to six.
A seventh suspect is still on the run.
What happened?
On Good Friday, April 7, 2023, at about 4:45 pm, three policemen, Constable Isaac Boiatey, Constable Evans Owusu with Corporal Sylvester Berhene in charge were on duty at the Won Akotosu snap checkpoint near Kumawu in the Ashanti Region.
According to the police, an initial investigation has disclosed that the suspects, Edward Boateng, Evans Addo, Yaw Kusi, Michael Owusu, Yaw Boateng and Emmanuel Mensah, together with one other suspect who is currently on the run, were pulled up in a taxi cab at the checkpoint.
The taxi which was overloaded with seven male adults caught the attention of one of the three policemen who were on duty at the checkpoint.
He, therefore, stopped them and requested to search the car.
However, according to the police account, the suspects in an attempt to prevent the police officer from checking the car pounced on him and violently attacked him.
A Police reinforcement team which was responding to the incident succeeded in arresting six of the suspects and efforts are underway to get the last suspect arrested.
The attacked police officer – Corporal Berhene who sustained a knee injury, together with one of the suspects who also sustained some injuries were sent to the hospital for medical attention.
A video depicting portions of the incident has been shared on social media. [Watch the attached video below]
According to the police account, while Corporal Sylvester Berhene was searching for the boot of the vehicle, some of the occupants became angry and pounced on him.
They reportedly struggled and put him down on the ground.
A video of that part of the incident is what has been shared on social media.
Fight over “rat carcass”
However, other reports quoting an eyewitness account suggest that the fight with the policeman was a result of an attempt by the policeman to take the carcass of a rat from the young men.
The young men were reportedly returning from a hunt and had the carcass in the boot of the taxi.
They reportedly resisted the attempt by the police corporal to take away their meat, resulting in the confrontation.
The policeman is alleged to have fired a warning shot, which resulted in the youth pouncing on him in an attempt to prevent him from being able to fire more shots.
Reinforcement
The police surveillance team was contacted for reinforcement and when they arrived, the police managed to arrest three of the assailants namely Edward Boateng aged 20 years, Evans Addo aged 20 years and Yaw Kusi aged 22 years.
The others managed to escape but two of them were later arrested.