Police defuse bomb threat in Kavieng

By Muhuyupe Soranzi
A BOMB believed to be set up to destroy the Peter Torot counting venue for the New Ireland regional and  Kavieng  open seats was discovered by police and five suspects have been apprehended.
Kavieng police station commander Inspector Gabriel N’Drihin told The National yesterday that the bomb was found about 15 metres from the tally room on Tuesday.
“We received a tipoff at around 6.30pm on Tuesday so I despatched police officers to the scene, where they apprehended four suspects,” he said.
“After apprehending the suspects, they searched the vicinity and discovered the wiring connected to the bomb and defused it,” N’Drihin said.
He said if the police had not managed to catch up with the suspects, the counting centre would have been destroyed.
The inspector said the bomb had been wired to go off via electrical charge from a battery.
N’Drihin said all five suspects were locked up in Kavieng.
“Four suspects were apprehended on the spot while their accomplice was arrested at the Kavieng main market yesterday,” he said.
N’Drihin said the five would be questioned after the election operations.