Missing military gun returned to police

A GUN belonging to the PNG Defence Force has been returned after it went missing during a road accident early this year at Keltiga in Mt Hagen.
Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Highlands Eastern End Joseph Tondop confirmed that the gun was returned to police on Nov 25.
The gun went missing during the road accident along the Highlands Highway which resulted in the death of a soldier.
ACP Tondop said both the police and the military had been looking for it, using their intelligence sources on the ground.
“We had links to who was in possession of it because it was a State property and it was not right to be in the hands of citizens,” he said.
“According to information, it was taken to Baiyer in Western Highlands. So we went there searching for it.”
ACP Tondop said they told the leaders of Keltiga to surrender the gun.
“They returned it,” he said.
“Firearm and anything that belongs to the State must remain a State property.”