Kimbe burns

By ALISON ANIS
WEST New Britain capital Kimbe burnt on Saturday and there were wild scenes of looting as angry relatives went on a rampage over the beating death of a man from Talasea district, allegedly by policemen, last Friday.
A riot squad from Port Moresby was rushed to Kimbe yesterday morning to back a heavily outnumbered police personnel who watched helpless as the provincial treasury office and the Chinese-owned Big Mart Trading were burnt to the ground and two of their vehicles set alight.
Opportunists and criminals from surrounding settlements set about methodically ransacking stores.
Acting Police Commissioner Tony Wagambie confirmed the riot and the cause of it yesterday.
He said last Friday, while the town council was cleaning the streets under supervision of the police, a man was caught spitting betelnut.
He was arrested and ta­ken to the police station where, in the process of questioning, he was beaten up.
He was taken to the hospital and died as a result of the injuries sustained.
Relatives and people from his village, located 45 minutes out of town, mobilised and set on the town which resulted in massive damages and looting.
Part of the police station was damaged, the police commissioner said.
He apologised for the actions of his men and said he would take the toughest action upon those responsible.
Two policemen were said to have been arrested.
“Nobody is above the law. I expect policemen to go through the normal process.
“You do your work and do it properly. You do not do it by breaking the law.
“I send my sympathies and condolences to the re­latives but I will sort this matter out.”
Reports from the pro­vince reaching The National yesterday confirmed that business houses and shops in Kimbe were closed.
Staff at Kimbe General Hospital confirmed they had received the body of the deceased and was now at the hospital’s morgue awaiting a post-mortem.
They identified the man to be in his late 30 and a father of four children.
“It seems that the deceased died from blood clots in his brain. He was hit on his head with something hard,” a nurse staff said.
She said a police vehicle drove up to the hospital around 4pm last Friday and left the body at the
accidents and emergency unit.