Major hunt underway for notorious PNG bank robber
A major manhunt is underway in Papua New Guinea for the country's most notorious bank robber, William Kapris, who has escaped from the country's main prison along with at least three others.
Transcript
A major manhunt is underway in Papua New Guinea for the country's most notorious bank robber, William Kapris, who has escaped from the country's main prison along with at least three others.
Police say Kapris was armed and had inside assistance when he broke out from Port Moresby's Bomana prison on Tuesday, his third escape from prison.
Kapris has been serving a 37-year sentence for a series of bank robberies and is waiting sentencing for another bank robbery and a murder case.
Our correspondent Todagia Kelola gave Johnny Blades this update:
KELOLA: There is a big number of police and serious officers at Bomana. where the jail is. And the surrounding areas, it's been all police and serious officers blocking off roads, stopping all vehicles and checking on the fugitives. But, yes, Kapris is known for being an escapee. I'm pretty certain the government will allocate a huge amount of money for police operations to recapture him.
BLADES: And he has escaped from Bomana before?
KELOLA: He has escaped from Bomana, yes. One of the biggest escapes was when he broke out with 11 others from the maximum-security compound, with all the life-sentence prisoners and those who have been put on death row.
BLADES: OK. And he's escaped, they say, with three others. Are they also dangerous criminals?
KELOLA: Yes. These three others are life-termers - very, very dangerous, including Kapris. Kapris is the leader. All these three were also recently arrested for the murder of another inmate inside the Bomana prison. They were charged again for wilful murder.
BLADES: Previous jailbreaks he made, he'd had some assistance. What do the police say this time? Do they know how he managed to escape?
KELOLA: I just returned from there. According to the jail wardens, William Kapris and his two other friends were armed with three pistols. How the three pistols went into the Bomana jail is still a question. When they walked out... They didn't jump over the fence. They walked to the main gate where the guards are guarding, the main gate to the prison. They just walked there, held up the guard, ordered him to open the gates. He was not armed. So at the time the escape occurred, there was no arms for guards to use.
BLADES: Have the public been issued any warnings by the police about Kapris and his offsiders?
KELOLA: The deputy commissioner of police, Simon Kauba, has appealed to William Kapris to surrender, or, in short, he has ordered his men to shoot to kill. And Mr Kauba has described those three prisoners as very dangerous. The are murderers and rapists. He has appealed to the public to be cautious, and also appealed to the public to send information to assist police with their investigations.
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