Peace broker

 A BID to broker a truce between two rival factions of the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary has been rejected by the police hierarchy.

On Friday, National Capital District acting metropolitan police commander Supt N’Dranou Perou offered to be peace broker after a meeting with suspended Assistant Commissioner Crimes Thomas Eluh and Investigation Task Force Sweep chairman Sam Koim.

However, Deputy Police Commissioner Operations Jim Andrews said the proposed meeting tomorrow with Police Commissioner Geoffrey Vaki was “totally unnecessary” and accused Perou of making “misleading” remarks on a split within the constabulary.

In a statement on Saturday, Andrews said Perou’s comment was not true because only a few officers attached to the National Fraud Squad and Anti-Corruption Unit were trying to undermine Vaki’s authority.

He said a letter sent to Vaki proposing the meeting at Bomana Police College on Tuesday “will not be entertained”.

“The Police Commissioner has more important national issues to worry about and is not at liberty to attend such unnecessary meeting,” Andrews said.

He said NCD police officers would be instructed to disregard the proposed meeting and concentrate on their normal duties.

Perou had said the main purpose of his meeting with Eluh and Koim was to get the two groups together.

“From that we hope to find a common ground to ease this tension between us so police continue to perform their constitutional duties,” he said after the meeting.

“The two groups have agreed to come to a dialogue.

“I’m calling on all policemen and women in NCD and police headquarters to work together now.

“This is something that is causing unnecessary fear to the public.”

Eluh blamed politicians for the standoff between different factions of police.

“The last thing we want to see is bloodshed and policemen fighting among themselves,” he said.

“Politicians, from my experience, are the ones creating this situation.

“We have resolved that Tuesday is the best time to bring every party so that we can explain why are we doing this, why are we pursuing the warrant of arrest and doing this and that.”

Koim said: “We thought that it was better for Eluh and myself to come in voluntarily for them to charge us and defuse the situation, to show that there is a rule of law that exists within the organisation as well as the country.”