Daru cops probing youth’s death

THE suspicious death of a 20-year-old man on Saturday night in Daru, Western, led to looting and damaging of public property by angry relatives and opportunists.
Acting police commissioner and chief of operations Dr Philip Mitna said swift response by local police had managed to contain the situation.
He said police were on high alert in Daru with an investigation into the death currently underway. “From initial reports, the deceased, identified as David Kowani Miki from Tureture village, accompanied some PNG Defence Force soldiers out to sea where he was reported to have died and his body brought back to Daru,” he said.
“Police will conduct a thorough investigation into the incident.”
He said major incident briefs (MIB) from the province over the Easter weekend showed a lesser number of incidents than previous years, and urged citizens and the police to maintain that record.
Mitna said there were also a number of incidents that took place in Morobe.
He said police in Lae were investigating two reported assault cases, one involving a man from East Sepik who was allegedly hit on the head with an iron rod by the suspect (named), causing a deep cut on his head.
The other involved a man from Southern Highlands who was allegedly attacked by a security guard, also from Southern Highlands, after he refused to give his bag containing his valuables.
He added that an attempted hold-up was also reported at 12-Mile outside Lae.
The complainant (named) reported that he and his companions were travelling from Kainantu to Lae when they encountered more than eight masked suspects who tried to hold them up, but they escaped.
Meanwhile, a shooting took place last Wednesday by members of the local police task force unit on the Awadumo mountains facing Waema village in Western.
“The local task force unit received a tip-off that there was a build-up of gang members on the mountains and were planning a major hit before the Easter weekend,” Mitna said.