Victim of West Hills Mall incident was to travel to Germany the day after he died – Report

It is reported that the young man who died at the West Hills Mall in a police arrest incident on January 30, 2023, was scheduled to travel abroad the next day.

According to a Graphic.com.gh report sighted by GhanaWeb, 32-year-old Shadrach Arloo was scheduled to travel to Germany barely 24-hours before his untimely death.

This report is corroborated by a sister of the deceased who told the newspaper in an interview that her brother had gone to town to purchase some items in preparation for his travel when he got into a situation with the police leading to his death.

Sister's account of events

According to Perpetual Didier, who is a known gospel musician, her brother was allegedly beaten and tased to death during an incident with a police officer and a private security guard at the mall.

The report said :“She claimed Shadrach had gone to the mall for shopping and that he was there to buy some items he was expected to carry along to Germany for his elder sister - this sister had facilitated his documentation and travel. On his way out of the mall premises, he was reportedly confronted by the said policeman.

“The policeman is said to have demanded that he hands over his luggage for a search. He rejected and insisted he was not going to do so. His explanation, according to the eyewitnesses was that he suspected that the police can plant something in it to incriminate him.

“According to the sister, the eyewitnesses told the family that, Shadrach insisted that if they really wanted to search his bag, he was ready to go with them to the nearest police station for that purpose. This resulted in an altercation, during which Shadrach was reportedly beaten and tased, resulting in his death, the sister alleged.

“According to Perpetual, Shadrach had concluded all his documentation and was scheduled to travel to Germany on Tuesday (January 31, 2023) to join his sister,” the report added.



Manager at Mall arrested for role in incident

Meanwhile, the Sowutuom District Court remanded a Manager of one of the electrical Appliances dealers within the West Hills Mall, Boafo Osei Kwame in connection with the death of Shadrack Arloo.

The manager who is now a suspect in the death is said to have used a taser to shock a 33-year-old man leading to his death.

The District Court at Sowutuom presided over by His Worship Stephen Tebiri, remanded him into police custody to reappear on February 16.

In court on Thursday, February 2, his plea was not taken after the charge was read to him and the brief facts presented to the court.

According to EIB Network’s Legal Affairs Correspondent, Murtala Inusah, the accused is on a provisional charge of murder.

His lawyers say they dispute the facts presented to the court at this initial stage and contended that the case bothers on “causation” which could not be attributed to their client.

The lawyers further indicated to the court that a post-mortem report would make things clearer for their client as the facts suggest that the deceased struggled with a certain policeman as well as swallowing a black polythene bag.

The defence says the taser the accused allegedly used “was not even working when tried on the accused later after his arrest.”

Brief facts

Per the brief facts of the case put before the court, the complainant is Bernard Boanor Denkyi, an Operations Manager at West Hills Mall located at Weija.

While the accused Boafo Osei Kwame is also the Shop Manager of an Electronic Appliances dealer also located within the West Hills Mall.

The prosecution said on January 30, 2023, a Police Sergeant Daniel Abeiku stationed at the Visibility Unit of the Ghana Police Service, Headquarters detailed to perform duties at the Mall, was patrolling the Mail when he saw Shadrack Allu, 33, now deceased and Ibrahim Seshi, a witness in the case with a backpack at their back.

It said, the deceased and the witness’ movement at the Mall became suspicious and the Police Sergeant called the deceased for him to search his backpack.

The prosecution said “the deceased opened the backpack, removed something wrapped in a black polythene back from the backpack and put it in his back pocket and started running outside.”

It said “The policeman pursued the deceased and got him arrested. The deceased struggled with the policeman when he was being cuffed and in the process, he removed the wrapped polythene bag from his back pocket and swallowed it.

“The accused person who also saw the incident rushed to the scene and removed his personal Taser and shocked the deceased.”

It said, “The deceased fell unconscious as a result and was rushed to the Somotech hospital within the Mall for treatment but was pronounced dead on arrival by the medical doctor on duty.”

The brief facts stated that the “Accused was arrested and Taser retrieved from him” and “During the interrogation, the accused stated that he brought the Taser for self-defence.”

The prosecution stated that “the body of the deceased was carefully inspected but no physical marks of assault were found.”

“The body was later removed and deposited at the Police Hospital for preservation and autopsy. Investigation ongoing” the court was informed.

GA/SARA