Four arrested for Northern killing

By JUNIOR UKAHA
FOUR men have been arrested in connection with the stabbing to death of a young man at Bongoho River in Popondetta, Northern, last week.
Provincial police commander Micah Anaiwe said the four were identified and picked up by police on Monday in town for their part in the alleged killing of 22-year-old Hensley Ganoka.
“Fighting has subsided but the situation remains tense,” he said.
“Police have taken control of the situation and things are getting back to normal.
“I give credit to the local leaders for helping police take control of the situation.”
He said shops and other public amenities had re-opened for business.
Anaiwe said a mobile squad unit and four Criminal Investigations Division officers from Port Moresby were dispatched to Popondetta to help quell the fighting which had left two dead and 10 others critically injured.
He said with the election just around the corner, aspiring candidates in the area could use the situation to further their own interests.
“I call on local leaders not to manipulate the situation for their own gain but to help police maintain peace,” he said.
Anaiwe said police had yet to establish who fired the shot which killed 24-year-old Leonard Keke, of Hanjin village, Kokoda.
He said police and representatives of the provincial administration had met with relatives of Ganoka last Sunday and responded to a petition they had presented earlier.
He said he met with Keke’s relatives yesterday and heard their grievances.