By
MALUM NALU
Morobe police commander Leo Lamei says the four
remaining suspects in last Tuesday’s Black Cat Trail murders and attacks are
basically “dead men walking” if they do not turn themselves in like their four
colleagues did on Sunday.
He told The
National yesterday there were now up to 74 police officers and villagers
scouring the rugged terrain between Wau and Salamaua for the remaining four
suspects, after four were arrested on Sunday, and there was little if no chance
of them escaping or getting out alive if they did not turn themselves in.
Police – with their ‘Eye InThe Sky’ helicopter - have
been searching the rugged terrain between Wau and Salamaua for the gang that
killed two local porters and attacked eight expatriate trekkers along the Black
Cat Trail last Tuesday.
A man suspected of harbouring the suspects was
hacked to death by angry relatives of murdered porter, Mathew Gibob, of Skin
Diwai village.
“I ask them to surrender to police, village leaders,
or pastors,” Lamei said.
“If they do not surrender, the relatives of the dead
and injured porters will attack them.
“I also appeal to the relatives not to take the law
into their own hands.”
Lamei commended villagers from all along the Black
Cat Trail from Wau to Salamaua for their support.
“I want to commend the villagers, the people of
Salamaua, the people of Wau, and especially the villagers of Bitoi and Mubo,”
he said.
“Without them, we would not have arrested the first four
suspects.
“They are still supporting us.”
Lame said the hard work put in by police over the
last week deserved the highest praise.
“I would like to praise my men for a job well done,
especially in arresting the first four suspects in just a few days, when it
could have taken weeks or months in such rugged terrain,” he said.
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