35 flee from Jomba police cell

THIRTY-FIVE remandees overpowered three policemen and fled from the Jomba police station in Madang on Sunday.
Police have appealed to relatives and members of the public not to harbour them.
Station commander Sr Insp Steven Kaipa described most of the escapees as “low-risk offenders”and had been detained for drunk behaviour, possession of homebrew and marijuana, fighting and so on.
Two were murder suspects, he told The National.
The escape occurred after the prisoners were given their meals at about 7pm.
As a policeman was locking the cells, the remandees rushed out and overpowered him and the other two policemen.
Thirty-two other remandees remained in their cells.
Insp Kaipa said other police rushed back to the station but it was too dark to track down the escapees.
He said many of the escapees were from settlements around town and warned the public that it was an offence to harbour them.
“I would advise their family members to voluntarily surrender the escapees to the police,” Insp Kaipa said.
Meanwhile, provincial police commander Chief Insp Anthony Wagambie Jr said Madang had for the first time enjoyed a trouble-free festive season.
He said youths and elders in the community and the Neighborhood Watch had helped the police to maintain law and order.
He also thanked companies which had supported the programme.