A drunk Zambian police officer, Detective Inspector Titus Phiri freed 13 suspects from custody for them to celebrate the New Year, officials revealed.
Phiri was arrested after releasing the suspects from Leonard Cheelo police station in the capital, Lusaka, before running away himself, BBC reports.
The 13 detainees accused of crimes such as assault, robbery, and burglary are currently on the run and a manhunt has been launched to find them.
Police spokesperson Rae Hamoonga said that Phiri, “in a state of intoxication, forcibly seized cell keys” from Constable Serah Banda on New Year’s Eve.
“Subsequently, Detective Inspector 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,” he said.
“Out of the 15 suspects in custody, 13 escaped. Following the incident, the officer fled the scene.”
Phiri has not yet commented on the allegations.
Reacting to the incident, former presidential spokesperson and lawyer Dickson Jere wrote on Facebook, “I keep laughing each time I picture the scenario – comical! But then, I remembered a similar incident in 1997.”
On New Year’s Eve in 1997, the late, controversial High Court Judge Kabazo Chanda ordered the release of 53 suspects, some of whom were deemed dangerous by the police.
Chanda was annoyed that the suspects had been arrested as long as 1992 without appearing in court.
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