IGP orders the interdiction of two policemen

Wa, May 30, GNA - Mr Patrick Kwarteng Acheampong, Inspector General of Police (IGP)has ordered the interdiction of two police constables stationed at Wa in the Upper West Region for negligently causing the death of Bashirudeen Said, a student of Wa Polytechnic.

Constables Awudu Iddrissu and Ernest Akatiga have been interdicted and in addition, service inquiries instituted against them and six other police personnel on duty at the time of the incident.

Mr Acheampong gave the order after a careful study of findings of a three-man committee set up on March 26, this year by the Upper West Regional Security Council to investigate the circumstances that led to the student's death.

Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP)Robert Ayalingo, Upper West Regional Police Commander told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that the Upper West Regional Criminal Investigation Department (CID) had been instructed to prepare a case docket on the incident for submission to the Attorney General's Department for advice.

An eyewitness account said Bashirudeen was riding a motorbike with his girl friend as a pillion when some policemen on patrol ordered him to stop for not wearing a crash helmet.

He slowed down but refused to stop and one of the policemen forcibly pushed them from the motorbike into a gutter, Bashirudeen broke his neck in the process and died instantly while the pillion became unconscious.

The student's death incensed the public and created tension and riots between the police and the people in Wa. 30 May 07