The Minister of Interior, Ambrose Dery, has provided an update to Parliament regarding the death of 34-year-old Asawase resident Yussif Salawudeen. According to the Minister, police investigations thus far indicate that the deceased died after hitting his head against a wall.
Yussif Salawudeen was among 13 individuals arrested in a police swoop at a criminal hideout in Asawase. However, he was later released by the police when he showed signs of sickness.
Residents of the town rebelled and vandalised police property in demand for answers on the exact cause of death of the deceased.
In response to the incident, the Inspector General of Police instructed an investigation into the circumstances surrounding Yussif Salawudeen’s death, while the Police Standards Bureau initiated a separate investigation into the professional conduct of the involved police officers.
In an update to Parliament on the incident Mr Dery said the case docket has been forwarded to the Attorney General for advice.
“Police commenced investigations into the circumstances surrounding the cause of his [Yussif Salawudeen] death following instructions by the Inspector General of Police and the Police Standards Bureau also initiated investigations into the professional conduct of the police officers involved and investigations have so far revealed that the police chased and arrested the victim and thirteen others and later released him to go when he showed signs of sickness but while running, hit his head against the wall and fell.”
“Post-mortem investigation was conducted on the body by Dr Ernest Boakye of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital who gave the cause of death to be a result of the crash against the wall and the body was released to the family to be buried in line with Islamic tradition.”
