Police suspect immigration officers used force in Ghanaian's death

CHIBA —

Police have sent their reports to prosecutors on 10 immigration control officers at Narita airport, suspecting them of assaulting a Ghanaian man as he was being deported in March, resulting in his death, investigative sources said Tuesday.

Although they have not been placed under arrest, the officers are accused of involvement in the death of Abubakar Awudu Suraj, 45, who died after several of the officers sought to restrain him as he resisted being put aboard a flight from Narita to Cairo on March 22 for staying in Japan illegally, according to the sources.

Chiba police said earlier that an autopsy found no external wounds, broken bones, disease or other potential causes of death.

But in June, Suraj’s 49-year-old Japanese widow filed a complaint with prosecutors against the immigration officers, alleging they injured him and caused him to die during the deportation process.

An official at the Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau, to which the officers belong, on Tuesday expressed willingness to cooperate with the probe, saying, ‘‘We will continue to cooperate with the investigations and would like to deal with sincerity with people involved in the case, such as the bereaved family, based on the results of the investigations.’’