GRA commences investigations into alleged beating of 'wrong man' over theft allegations

The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has stated that it has commenced investigations into a viral video of its officers under the Customs Division allegedly brutalizing a suspect thief.

GhanaWeb on Friday, December 23, 2022, reported on the said viral video, which showed the officers who got down from a white pickup truck and asked people to sit on the floor.

From this group, the officers, who were about five in number and from the Nsutam office of customs, picked out one man and started beating him up.

The man, who was narrating the incident in the video, which appeared to be from a CCTV camera, claimed that it happened at Paradise, a resort near the Linda Dor restaurant at Nsutam in the Eastern Region.

The narrator, who identified himself as Kwaku Adu, said that the officers trooped to Paradise after a man reported to them that he had been robbed by someone who was driving a black vehicle.

Kwaku Adu added that after beating up the suspect, the officers took him to their office, and the accuser arrived there only to tell them that they had arrested the wrong person.

The management of GRA, in a statement it issued, commended the attack on the suspected thief.

It said that it is collaborating with the Ghana Police Service in its investigation, adding that the officers involved will be duly sanctioned if they are found culpable.

“The incident has also been reported to the police service, and the authority is collaborating with the police to deal with the situation. The appropriate sanctions would be meted out to the persons found culpable of the assault.

“We however wish to condemn this unfortunate situation and to use this opportunity to entreat the general public to report acts or incidents of such nature to the Authority for quick redress,” parts of the statement by GRA is quoted by graphic.com.gh.

Watch a video of the incident below:





IB/BOG