Baker thugs killed

By MIRIAM ZARRIGA
SEVEN more members of Tommy Baker’s gang in Milne Bay were yesterday shot dead by police in the mountains of Alotau, according to Police Commissioner David Manning.
He told The National that he received a report from police in Alotau of the clash with the armed criminal gang, some of whom fled into the bush.
“I can confirm that police personnel who were tracking the gang members were confronted by them. According to the report I received, several armed individuals were shot,” he said.
“Their leader succumbed to injuries he sustained. We are now working to bring the bodies back (to Alotau) to be formally identified and relatives and families of the deceased to be informed.”
According to information received by The National, the 14 gang members had escaped from police at Cape Vogel.
Baker was not among the gang members yesterday.
Police, working on intelligence reports, moved into the mountains to track the gang.
Yesterday between 1am and 2am, they came across their camp located between Wakwapu and Gurupwaia villages in the Makamaka local level government – a couple of days walking distance to the border with Northern.
A shootout occurred. When it stopped, police checked on the gang members who they thought had been injured.
They found out that six were dead and their leader later succumbed to injuries.
Retrieved from the seven killed were two shotguns and several rounds of ammunition.
The other seven gang members who managed to escape took with them guns and ammunitions.
In July, police killed two Baker gangsters in a shootout on the hills behind Saididiyali village in Upper Dawadawa ward, up the Dawadawa River in Milne Bay.
Later, one man surrendered to police.
Earlier this month a member of Baker’s gang accused of killing a security guard at a resort four years ago, was found dead in Milne Bay.
Provincial police commander Supt Peter Barkie said the body was found floating in a river at an oil palm estate in Alotau district. He had been at large since the resort incident on Nov 11, 2017.
Last week, Alotau MP Charles Abel told The National that Baker’s gang had raided the Rabaraba station.
“The Rabaraba station was attacked by criminals, (with) fuel and engines stolen, teachers robbed and public servants threatened,” Abel said. Police managed to recover some of the stolen items, he said.