The Joint Military/Police anti illegal mining Taskforce (Operation Vanguard) has rejected accusation that it is responsible for the death of four people whose bodies were found lifeless in a mining pit in Kwabeng in the Eastern Region.

The four were reportedly hired to a mining site at Kukuso, a community near Kwabeng to tow away some mining equipment on Saturday around 7 pm, however, they did not return raising suspicion among family and friends.

A search found the bodies of the deceased in a very shallow river and detected bruises, cuts, and the mark of assaults on their bodies indicating they have been beaten to death by the Military personnel operating in the area under Operation Vanguard task force.

The Kwabeng Police attempted to convey the bodies to Kibi government hospital but faced resistance from the incensed illegal miners in Anyinam and Kwabeng who stormed the Police station demanding the bodies for burial because believe the matter will not end anywhere.

Some of the angry miners and youth of the area also mounted road blocks from Kwabeng to Anyinam and attacked the Police for the bodies of their departed colleagues some of whom are Muslims, but the police managed to use an alternate route to deposit the body at Kibi government hospital.

But responding to the accusation, the spokesperson for Operation Vanguard, Major Gariba Pabi, denied the claims insisting that the task force has not visited the area.

He added that accusations against Operation Vanguard were also not true because the Taskforce worked from 12:30hr to 17:30hr on the day of the incident which is said to have happened at night.

“We also just heard this rumor about an hour ago. Our guys in Eastern Region, yesterday the farthest they went was Akrofufu and it is alleged the issued happened at Bomaa.

“Our operations are such that we have timelines for when we can go on night operations and it is alleged the incident happened in the night, towards dawn. From Akrofufu to Bomaa, there are about 83 villages apart,” he said.