Officer in village killing identified

 By CLIFFORD FAIPARIK
POLICE have identified the officer they believe was involved in the January 2015 killing of two Hanuabada village men and the wounding of three others.
But Assistant Police Commissioner (Crime) Victor Isouve said the officer had gone into hiding.
Isouve said the empty bullet shells collected from the village, plus the bullet retrieved from a victim’s body, were traced to the gun the officer was using.
“We have identified the officer in possession of that firearm. However, he has gone in to hiding,” he said.
Villagers Nicholas Rarua and Toka Gaudi died during the confrontation with a group of officers who had gone to the village on Jan 23, 2015.
Police believed during the initial investigations that officers were from the police reserve unit, who had entered the village to look for buai sellers.
Villagers set up road blocks and at one stage refused police investigators to enter the village.
The outcome of the first investigation was unsatisfactory, prompting police to conduct a second one nine months later.