In a bizarre incident, a drunk police officer in Zambia freed 13 suspects from custody at Leonard Cheelo police station in Lusaka to let them ring in the new year. The detainees were accused of crimes including assault, robbery, and burglary, and are currently on the run as police launch a manhunt to find them.
According to reports from the BBC, detective inspector Titus Phiri allegedly seized cell keys from another officer on New Year’s Eve while intoxicated and then unlocked both male and female cells, instructing the suspects to leave and celebrating the new year. Following the incident, Phiri fled the scene and has not yet commented on the allegations.
“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.”
Mr 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.
Mr Chanda was annoyed that the suspects had been arrested as long ago as 1992, but had not yet appeared in court.
