Source: newsthemegh.com
The police have detained four more people in connection with the rail disaster that occurred at Abortia in the Volta Region last week.
The gas welder Kokou Koudjo, 34, the laborer Patrick Kwaku Sosu, 52, the laborer Alaza Prosper, 28, and the laborer Fiadugbe Emmnauel, 31 are the individuals in question.
“Abetment of unlawful damage” is the charge brought against the four accused individuals.
They are accused of helping the truck’s driver, Abel Adzidotor, commit illegal damage to a Diesel Multiple Unit train.
Their petitions were denied by the high court chaired by Justice Mrs. Lydia Osei-Marfo, who instead remanded them in police custody while additional inquiries into the case were conducted.
As investigations were ongoing, the prosecution, led by Assistant State Attorney Christabel Selma Anafure, begged the court to reject the accused parties’ pleas.
ASA Anafure requested a brief postponement from the court and their remand into police custody.
The accused were asked to obtain attorneys of their choosing by the next adjourned date, and the court granted the prosecution’s request for a prayer.
According to the facts stated aloud in court, Dr. Divine Olutey, an engineer with the Ghana Railway Corporation, is the complainant.
The prosecution said that on April 18, 2024, between 0900 and 1300 hours, the accused were in a Hyundai Gold Truck piloted by Dzidotor Abel (since convicted) that had the license plate GS 9018-20.
According to the prosecution, early investigations showed that Koujo, the first accused, purchased several blocks from a Juapong block manufacturer and transported them to Abortia via the railway lines’ underpass.
The convict was in the car with the four accused people, the court was informed.
The prosecution claimed that after dumping the blocks at Kouko’s location, they made the decision to drive across the railroad tracks rather than go under the underpass.
The prosecution claims that despite knowing full well that the railway lines were off-limits to cars, the four accused still chose to take a “shortcut” across them in order to reach Juapong.
According to the prosecution, upon reaching the railway lines, they discovered that it was not feasible to pass over the tracks. Consequently, they chose to lay stones on the railway lines to create a pathway for the truck to traverse.
The prosecution countered that the truck continued to become stuck on the railroad tracks.
Without giving trains playing on the tracks any notice, the accused tipped the truck’s head and drove off.
Even if the truck had been able to cross the railroad, the prosecution claimed that the investigations had shown that there was no access route across the tracks that connected the Juapong road. Additionally, a large gutter on the west side of the railway lines would have prevented the accused individuals from connecting the Akuse-Juapong road.
The Ghana Railway Corporation’s management, led by the complainant and 28 other engineers from Poland and Ghana, conducted a test run of the new Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) Train from Tema to Mpakadan on the same day, as the court was informed.