The body of the late policeman Senior Constable Nelson Kalimda will be repatriated to Port Moresby on Sunday November 6, says the outgoing Hela Provincial Police Commander Senior Inspector Robin Bore.
Mr Bore said the body would be repatriated to Port Moresby as the Tari Hospital Morgue was not working. He said the body would not be buried nor repatriated back to East Sepik Province until the suspects involved in the killing are captured or voluntarily surrender to police.
He said they closed their funeral service in Hela yesterday with the contributions from the general public and the Hela provincial government.
“The police investigation is continuing. Suspects are still at large. We only have two suspects in the Tari Police Cell who were arrested previously.
“We call out publicly for the suspects involved in the killing to surrender to the police. We asked their families, relatives, friends, tribesmen, and leaders of the surrounding communities to bring the suspects to police.
“The police personnel are still in Tari but only the body will be transported to Port Moresby by a few members of the Mobile Squad four (MS4). The other members including the Director Special Services Division (SSD) Chief Superintendent Julius Tasion are still in Tari to ensure the suspects are captured and face the law,” Mr Bore said.
Mr Bore however said that the four suspects arrested on Thursday (04/11/22) in the Western Highlands Province are yet to be confirmed. Those suspects have not yet been identified as they are still in the Mt Hagen Police Cell. He said the suspects will be transported to Tari for identification and questioning.
“We have yet to establish whether they were involved in the killing of the policeman. There is also an ongoing tribal fight at Upper Wage in Magarima where one of the main Warlords in that fight was captured in Mt Hagen with three others.
“Police investigation will continue until we capture the suspects and others involved in the killing. Police believe that there were many suspects involved but of the six main suspects, two are already in police custody but four are at large,” Mr Bore said.
Mr Bore has appealed to the general public, especially the people of Tigibi, Lomea, Dauli, Wabia, Ambua, and surrounding areas in the Hulia Local Level Government area and Magarima where the body was dumped to assist police with information to capture the suspects.
Mr Bore said the people need to cooperate and assist police with information. He said If the suspects are not arrested, they will continue to roam around freely and do more damage to the community.