Missing weapons

By CLIFFORD FAIPARIK

A SENIOR police officer is concerned about the guns allegedly used by police in three separate fatal shootings in Port Moresby and which are still missing.
Superintendent Philip Rambaliku, who is in charge of the police forensic laboratory, said they needed the guns as evidence in court.
There was the killing of a youth at Erima on Dec 13, 2017, the killing of a Tatana villager on Jan 17, 2015, and the killing of two Hanuabada villagers on Jan 23, 2015.
He said all the killings allegedly involved police officers in Port Moresby.
“And also the detectives investigating police officers accused of shooting to death members of the public with police issue firearms are not making attempts to trace those missing firearms,” he said.
Rambaliku said investigation into the death of Joe Michael, 15, had to be suspended because the police unit allegedly involved in the killing had brought in the wrong firearms.
“The firearms brought in for ballistic testing do not match the discarded bullet shells found at Erima near the Kookaburra Flyover,” he said.
“Also the bullet removed from the deceased does not match the surrendered firearms and the discarded bullet shells.
“We instructed the investigating officer to round up all the firearms issued to the unit involved in the killing. But our instructions fell on deaf ears.”
Rambaliku said the same situation applied in the Tatana case. The gun used in the killing of villager Salle Naime on Jan 17, 2015, allegedly by six police officers went missing from the police armoury at the Boroko police station.
“That firearm was positively tested with the discarded shells and the bullet obtained from the deceased,” he said.
“After the testing, a police detective (named) from Boroko police station picked up the firearm from the laboratory and brought it back to the armory. From there it went missing.
“Investigating officers are not making an attempt to trace that missing firearm.”
Rambaliku said all the suspects implicated in the Tatana case had to set free by the National Court because there was no evidence to convict them.
“For the Hanuabada killing, all the police firearms that were issued to the unit involved in that killing were brought in,” he said.
“They were tested with all the discarded bullet shells collected at the village. The firearms were also tested with the bullets obtained from the deceased.
“However, none of the firearms were positively identified. And we suspect that a non-police issue firearm was used in the killing of the two Hanuabada villagers and injuring of three other villagers.
“We instructed the investigating officers to conduct a second investigation to round up other firearms hidden in the village. But our instructions were brushed aside. That’s why investigation into that killing has been halted.”