A 40-year-old man, who allegedly poured liquid substance suspected to be acid on the face of the driver using an enamel syringe known in local parlance as ‘Bentua’ in his attempt to snatch a taxi, has been arrested.

The suspect Daniel Quaye, after pouring the substance on the victim, allegedly chased him out of the car and called him a thief but some passersby arrested the two and handed them over to the police.

Narrating the incident to the media, ACP Timothy Yoosa Bonga, the Accra Regional Police Commander, said the incident occurred on August 21, 2016 at about 4:30pm at Korle -Bu Teaching Hospital area.

The suspect hired the services of the driver of the Toyota Corolla taxi with registration number ER 2369-11 to transport him from Tema Community 10 junction to Korle-Bu in Accra at a fee of GHC50.

Upon reaching Tema Station, Quaye asked the victim to stop for him to use the restroom.

The suspect spent over an hour in the restroom and later instructed the driver to drive him to his destination to meet his boss who will pay the fare.

At Korle-Bu, the suspect directed the driver to move further to the Nurse’s Training School area, but the driver told the suspect that the road had been blocked and that he could not drive through.

The suspect instructed the victim to use another road which was not blocked but the victim refused.

Suddenly, the suspect pulled out an enamel pump from a polythene bag and sprayed the acid into the face of the driver.

The driver rushed out of the taxi cab and he was pursued by the suspect who continued to shout.

This attracted the attention of the people in the vicinity, who arrested both the suspect and victim.

The suspect pretended to be the owner of the taxi and accused the victim of attempting to snatch the taxi from him.

They were both handed over to the police.

Upon interrogation, Quaye initially denied committing the office but he later admitted the offence.

He also told the police that he had a polythene bag, rope, knife, piece of wood, an enamel pump, two bottles containing acid to perpetuate the heinous crime.

Quaye would be arraigned before court soon.