After the death of a 59-year-old, several police officers in Cologne are investigated on suspicion of bodily harm in the office.

They are suspected of having used "excessive force" against the man and injuring him in an emergency escape mission in April 2021, the public prosecutor said on Monday.

The officials between the ages of 24 and 40 have been temporarily suspended from duty.

The operation is said to have been an accident escape in the Cologne district of Bickendorf. The 59-year-old was then taken to a hospital, which he left on the same day after outpatient treatment. In June 2021, however - after a two-week inpatient stay in a clinic - he died. Whether the death of the Italian national is related to what happened during the police operation is now being examined. The Bonn police were entrusted with the investigation.

"The later deceased was not the accused in the proceedings for unauthorized removal from the scene of the accident, but a relative," explained a spokesman for the public prosecutor.

Apparently he interfered in the police operation.

“What actually happened then is the subject of the ongoing investigation.” It has not yet been finally clarified, for example, whether the 59-year-old had resisted.

Relatives reported that the incident took place in April after the husband's death.

The body was then autopsied.

Appointments for the missions?

In the course of the investigation, further suspicions emerged beyond the specific case.

According to the public prosecutor's office, cell phones were evaluated, among other things.

Some police officers are now also suspected of having exchanged private chats with other officers about official processes that could be criminally relevant.

Among other things, it is about a possible appointment to use force, said the spokesman for the prosecutor.

Officials are said to have agreed to work together, for example, "in order to counter possible acts of resistance by potential accused persons with excessive violence".

It is now also being checked whether this actually happened.

Initially, no information was given about the exact number of police officers who are being investigated.

According to the prosecutor, they are all men.

Concrete evidence of a possibly xenophobic motive has not yet been found in the case, the spokesman said.