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We’ll take a cop of kindness yet! Drunk Zambian officer freed 13 perps from cells to enjoy New Year.
A Zambian police officer has been arrested after he drunkenly released 13 suspects from custody, stating they were ‘free to cross over into the New Year’.
In a statement released by the Zambia Police Service, Detective Inspector Titus Phiri from the Leonard Cheelo Police Post, allegedly opened the cells housing male and female detainees at around 10:00 on New Year’s Day.
“Preliminary investigations reveal that Detective Inspector Phiri, in a state of intoxication, forcibly seized cell keys from Constable Serah Banda.
“Subsequently, Phiri unlocked both the male and female cells and instructed the suspects to leave, stating they were free to cross over into the New Year. Out of the 15 suspects in custody, 13 escaped. Following the incident, the officer fled the scene and disappeared into the nearby compound,” read the statement.
According to police, the suspects faced charges ranging from assault, theft, burglary and conduct likely to cause a breach of peace.
“All the suspects, remain at large. A docket of case has been opened, and a manhunt has been launched. The Zambia Police Service has intensified efforts to locate and apprehend the escapees,” stated local police.
The BBC in their report said Phiri had yet to comment on the allegations.
The BBC highlighted a response to the incident by former presidential spokesperson and lawyer Dickson Jere, who took to Facebook and wrote: “I keep laughing each time I picture the scenario – comical! But then, I remembered a similar incident in 1997.”
This was in reference to an incident where the late High Court judge Kabazo Chana ordered the release of 53 suspects on New Year’s Eve in 1997, because he was annoyed they had not yet appeared in court despite being arrested as far back as 1992.
(News 24)