Bodies of sea piracy targets found

By JUNIOR UKAHA and JIMMY KALEBE
THE decomposed bodies of two boat operators, whose dinghy was hijacked two weeks ago by pirates, were found along the coast of Tufi, in Northern, on Friday.
The pair identified as Siling Andy, 21, and Steven Katam, 20, from Labu Tale village in the Huon Gulf district of Morobe, went missing on June 26 when their dinghy, powered by a 75hp engine, was taken by pirates in waters along the Morobe local level government area.
Morobe police commander Supt Alex N’drasal confirmed the discovery of the bodies.
N’drasal said Tufi coast villagers found the corpses in a poor state and buried them last week.
N’Drasal said police and relatives had conducted a search for the skipper and the crew but could not locate them.
He said pirates had ordered the two off the boat about 2km from shore and ordered them to swim.
N’drasal said one of the suspects told police what happened when they questioned him.
“With the sea very rough at that time, ocean currents must have caused them to drown, resulting in their deaths,” he said.
N’drasal said police arrested five suspects who had been charged and were detained at Buimo Prison.
The Morobe police commander said water police needed a more reliable boat to counter sea piracy.
A relative of one of the victims has condemned the attack and called for tougher actions to stop on sea piracy.
Kilamu Asai, Andy’s uncle, said the two operators were doing their routine business when pirates took their boat and forced them to swim.