Two die, houses razed after clash at Sogeri

 TWO men are dead, several families are homeless and one person is in a critical condition at the Port Moresby General Hospital after an argument resulted in the killing and burning down of homes during the early hours of Saturday morning at the Owers Corner, outside Port Moresby, The National reports.
Sogeri police station commander Stanley Baroro said a weekend getaway for some Southern Highlanders at Owers Corner with a group of Goilala settlers living there turned sour after an argument resulted in the fight between the two groups. 
Baroro said from reports received the group was getting high on drugs while drinking alcohol.
Baroro said since the Southern Highlanders were visitors there, they were outnumbered and fled but were chased and attacked by the Goilalas, resulting in one of them being killed.
He said the body of the deceased was then mutilated and left on the roadside.
The matter was reported to police but before any action could be taken, relatives of the deceased, who learned of the killing, mobilised in two 25-seater buses, searched the the city for any Goilalas and abducted two innocent men from the Manu Autoport Market, bound them and headed for Owers Corner.
Police said the relatives then converged on the settlement and burnt down several houses. 
While the Southern Highlanders were busy burning and destroying property, the duo decided to make a run. 
One was cornered and chopped to death with petrol thrown over him before he was set alight while the other was chopped, suffering multiple deep wounds.
He is in a critical condition in hospital.
Baroro, who condemned the killings, said the senseless barbaric acts were symbolic of those in the Stone Age and that while policemen were trying to uphold justice by conducting investigations, the Southern Highlanders decided to use their own tactics.
“We are in the 21st century, modern PNG. We cannot allow people to payback at will using jungle justice,” he said. 
“I am appealing for both sides not to do any more harm, to respect each other and the law and to cooperate with police.”
Four Goilalas were questioned in relation to the deaths.