Police need help to probe killings

By JAMES APA GUMUNO
POLICE need assistance to fly into Simbai to investigate a mass killing last week and arrest people involved in it.
Simbai is on the border of Madang and Jiwaka region of Western Highlands.
Highlands divisional police commander and assistant deputy police commissioner Simon Kauba said police needed the urgent assistance of the Jiwaka Transitional Authority and the three local MPs to fly in police officers to prevent further killings.
Kauba said Jiwaka police could not do much about the killings because of the remoteness of the place.
He said it would take four days to walk from Jimi to Kumbrup in Madang to investigate the killing.
Jimi MP Wake Goi has called on the governors of Madang and Western Highlands, the JTA chairman and the members for Anglimp-South Waghi and Middle Ramu to join him in holding peace talks and in assisting police.
Goi has supplied a charter and two vehicles to take the people and bodies to safety.
“It is important that
all leaders meet to discuss this,” he said.
“It should not be left to just one person to handle the situation. They are all our people who are affected and the area where the violence occurred is so remote. So we need to pool resources.”
The situation on the ground is still tense and inaccessible by vehicular transportation so the best option available is to fly in police officers with
food rations.
Kauba said he planned to send 10 armed policemen into the area to stay with the people for more than two weeks.
He said police were prepared to go but it depended on how fast the JTA and local MPs arranged for the chopper and food rations for the policemen.
He said according to locals, 13 people including two women were killed.
But police need to fly to the area to find out the exact number of people killed and those missing in the jungle.
He said the reasons for the killing were also not known and police needed to investigate and find out from the people on the ground why the people living at the border attacked Jiwakans and killed them.