Police want calm after killing during polling

By CLIFFORD FAIPARIK
POLICE and community leaders are negotiating for calm after a dispute among Mekamui faction resulted in the killing of a man on the first day of the Bougainville Referendum, Bougainville Police Service commander Francis Tokura says.
In a separate incident, armed men robbed a Chinese-owned shop on Friday.
The robbery occurred within the two-day silence period prior to the referendum polling on Saturday.
Tokura said yesterday that “the killing in South Bougainville on Saturday, although not related to the referendum, was disturbing, especially with the international media and observers there.
It also proved that factory-made firearms were still in constituencies that had been declared weapon-free and referendum ready.
“I want those leaders who had declared their constituencies are weapon-free to now ensure that no such incidents occur in their constituencies,” Tokura said.
“Because from our intelligence reports, firearms are still in the hands of the public.”
Tokura said the incident occurred because there was a dispute in the Konnou constituency, Buin district among the Mekamui faction, causing it to split into two groups (Mekamui one and Mekamui two). “The man is from Mekamui two and was shot to death in his house at Piriraro village by members of Mekamui one at about 5.30am. His house was set on fire with is body inside. So his house and body were burnt. The man is an adult married with four children,” Tokura said.
“We are now treating this killing as wilful murder. Our officers in Buin are now investigating the incident with the help of community leaders. My officers and local leaders are maintaining calm among the community to ensure that polling continues while the police investigate. Currently, the situation in Buin is tense. But polling is still continuing.”
Tokura said 750 police officers were deployed for security operations on Bougainville for the two-week referendum.
“We have a total of 28 regional assisting police officers led by New Zealand police one. These officers are from NZ, Australia, Fiji, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. We also have a total of 722 members from Royal PNG Police Constabulary and Bougainville Police Service. These officers are been deployed to Buka. Arawa and Buin.”
Meanwhile, Tokura said those who robbed the Chinese shop in Buka, North Bougainville, escaped with an undisclosed amount of money.
“The suspects were armed with a single-shot rifle. We investigated and went to the suspects’ area of residences. However, they all escaped. But we managed to arrest one and he is now in the cell. The other suspects are known and are now on the run. ”