REMANDEE DIES WHILE TRYING TO ESCAPE POLICE CELL IN PNG'S MADANG PROVINCE

A REMANDEE died a horrible death while attempting to escape from PNG's Madang’s Jomba police cells on Wednesday.

His head got stuck as he tried to squeeze through the steel bars and may have died in agony, through strangulation, while nine other suspects before him made good their escape.

Police in the province have commenced a man-hunt for the nine.

Madang provincial police commander Sylvester Kalaut said the incident happened on New Year’s Eve at about 5am.

The escape took place during a heavy downpour.

He said the Jomba police cell guards found the dead prisoner dangling from the prison’s half-removed steel bars.

He said the suspect had tried to force his body through the tight gap in the bar only to get his head stuck between the bars.

His nine accomplices managed to squeeze through the gap that they created using a sharp implement that was smuggled in prior to the escape; a matter that is also being investigated.

Chief Superintendent Kalaut said the incident should serve as a lesson to other suspects, that risks of escaping were high and it was better to do the right thing and to work with the rule of law instead of against it.

He said among those now on the run was a betelnut trader from the Highlands region who police had arrested for being in possession of a high-powered firearm. Police believed it had been bought in Bogia district.

Meanwhile, one woman’s New Year’s celebrations turned sour after she was caught by police along the North Coast trying to smuggle in fireworks which she had bought at the Indonesian border trading post of Batas at the PNG-Indonesia border.

The PPC said the woman to have spent K4400 to bring in the items, which are prohibited by law.

Street value of the items are said to be between K40 and K50 and it is estimated she would have made about K20,000. However, she was instead slapped a hefty fine and her wares have since been forfeited to the state.

PNG Today / Post Courier