One soldier charged with autoport damage

By ANGELINE KARIUS
ONE soldier from Taurama army barracks has been arrested charged with wilful damage and theft over the Manu autoport riot and looting that occurred 
on May 7.
Three other troopers from Taurama Barracks were being questioned by police last night over the theft of K100,000 and K5 million damage to the state-of-art service station.
This was the first arrest over the brawl and ensuing riot in which Papua New Guinea Defence Force personnel fired weapons to frighten civilians.
NCD metropolitan comman­der Supt Joseph Tondop said three soldiers being questioned by criminal investigations division officers were likely to face similar charges.
He said police had completed their investigations by collecting statements and the identities of those involved in the riot.
He said finer details of the perpetrators “will not be released until police have completed processing the four”.
The riot at Manu autoport had caused the operator and owner Reuben Kandiu from Enga, K5m in damage.
That included the theft of goods and cash.
Tondop said police believed the suspect involved in the slashing of a soldier at the Manu ser­vice station “is an employee and is known to police”.  
“Arrests will be made soon,” he said.
The PNG Defence Force has yet to make public the findings of an internal investigation into the incident.
The military investigation has been completed and a report given to the commander Brig-Gen Francis Agwi.
Agwi was yesterday away for a meeting in Lae and could not be reached for comments.