Cops threatened – The National

**The newly- proclaimed leader of the Baker Gang remnants, Eugene Pakalasi.**

By MIRIAM ZARRIGA
POLICE Comm David Manning says another Mobile Squad in Port Moresby is on standby to be deployed to Alotau following threats by 30 armed Baker Gang remnants.
“The gangsters have issued new threats to harm policemen on the ground who are maintaining security and trying to restore normalcy for Papua New Guineans in Alotau,” he added.
Led by Eugene Pakalasi the gangsters are on the prowl in Alotau.
“We are aware of the threat by the gang following the shooting of Tommy Maeva Baker last Thursday, and we have taken precautions to ensure the safety of the policemen and all security personnel in the district, including Alotau residents,” Manning said, adding that police had been placed on high alert as they continue to hunt down the gangsters.
Sources told The National that the province’s Giligili Prison was holding about 20 Baker gangsters. Pakalasi’s village is located near the prison.

After the death of the notorious criminal Tommy Baker, the gang members have been harassing residents at Alotau. The gang was responsible for the burning of a police barracks in Alotau last year. – Nationalfilepic

Sources reported that Pakalasi and his men were armed with a variety of factory-made firearms.
Policemen and their families living outside have been moved back into the barracks in town for their safety.
The National also understands that police investigators are in Alotau to commence their investigations into the shooting of Tommy Maeva Baker.
Comm Manning told The National that Baker and his followers had plans to launch an all-out attack on the police before he was killed in a shoot-out with police at the Viole culvert in Kwaini settlement on Thursday night.
According to sources on the ground, the firearms amassed by the remnants of the gang were moved from Northern’s Popondetta into Alotau by Baker prior to his death.
Comm Manning said: “Police will continue to ensure our communities are safe and secure, and it is imperative that we swiftly arrest and lock-up individuals and groups who prey on the innocent and defenceless law-abiding citizens as well as vulnerable groups in our communities.”
Baker, 37, from Ginada village, Rabaraba was shot and killed in a shoot-out with police between 9.40pm and 10.55pm on Thursday.