The police have arrested a 56-year-old man, Osei Joseph aka Alotey, a distiller of Ghana’s local gin, akpeteshie, at Prestea in the Western Region, for allegedly serving two men with some bitters suspected to have been mixed with poison, leading to their death.
One of the two, popularly known as Ogbolo, who first took in the drink, reportedly fell unconscious and was rushed to the Prestea Government Hospital after complaining of stomach ache, but died on the way.
The other man, whose name was not immediately known but believed to be a drunkard, also died after taking in some of the liquor.
According to some of the residents, four others who also took in some of the bitters were in critical condition at the Prestea hospital, while the bodies of the two had been deposited at the same health facility.
They indicated that Ogbolor and some young men were offered the drink by Akosua Fremah, fiancée of the suspect.
The residents indicated that some minutes later, Ogbolo started complaining of stomach ache and collapsed. He was also rushed to the hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival.
Assembly Man’s Account
The assembly man for Prestea Bondaye, William Adomako, asserted that the suspect’s fiancée asked the young men to help her carry some fire wood from her farm.
He asserted that the men asked the woman to get them some akpeteshie to ginger them up to work hard in the farm and they took the lead.
The assembly man indicated that Akosua then took the liquor from Osei Joseph.
Mr William Adomako maintained that after taking the bitters from Osei, Akosua Frema drunk some before going to the farm.
He said upon reaching the farm Akosua complained of serious stomach ache and was rushed to the hospital by the young men.
The assembly man said the men took in some of the drink and had a similar experience and so they quickly went for palm oil and drunk it to neutralize the effect of the liquor.
Police Account
Supt Timothy Dassah corroborated the story in an interview with DAILY GUIDE, and indicated that the akpeteshie distiller had been arrested to assist the police in their investigations.
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(Nana Kwesi)