Hijacked Jiwaka boxes recovered

 By JAMES APA GUMUNO

THREE ballot boxes hijacked by a candidate in the Nondugl Local Level Government in Jiwaka have been recovered at Kumbagl village during a police raid.

The ballot boxes were for Kombulno Ward 1, 2 and 3. They were hijacked with the polling officials last Thursday while on their way to Nondugl.

Minj police station commander Snr Sgt Michael Kaupa said Minj and Banz police conducted a combined operation following a tipoff on Tuesday and recovered the ballot boxes filled with signed ballot papers.

Kaupa said the candidate and his supporters held the three presiding officers at gunpoint and forced them to sign the papers.

He said the supporters and the candidate after marking all the ballot papers took the boxes to Kumbagl market and left them in a small house near the road.

He said due to tight security at the police station, the candidate and his supporters could not sneak the ballot boxes into the police station where other boxes were kept.

“While they were finding ways to transport the boxes to the police station, some people came and reported it to us.”