FIVE police officers in Mpika district have been arrested and charged with murder following the death of two suspects who reportedly jumped out of a moving vehicle last week in a bid to escape.

The officers have been arrested after results of a postmortem conducted on the two murder suspects revealed that they died of blunt head and limb trauma. Muchinga Province Commissioner of Police Joel Njase identified the arrested officers as deputy inspector James Munga, sergeant Josam Simachulu, and others only known as constable Nkweto, sergeant Chanda and constable Mulenga.

On Monday last week, the officers took Elijah Mwiko, 40, and Peter Mwiko, 28, from a holding cell so that they could lead police to a scene of crime. The suspects allegedly shot dead a human resource officer at Chilonga Mission Hospital and stole K15,000 cash from him.

But on their way to the scene of crime, the handcuffed suspects allegedly jumped out of the vehicle in an attempt to the escape but police officers managed to apprehend the duo and rushed them to the hospital. However, the suspects died few hours later, a situation which made the police command in the district to institute investigations into the death of the accused.

Mr Njase said in an interview yesterday that the postmortem which was conducted on the bodies of the suspects on Friday revealed that the two died as a result of blunt impact trauma to their heads and limbs. He said the five police officers who have been arrested and charged with murder will appear in court soon.

“This action is meant to ensure that justice prevails to the suspects and police officers because the court will establish the truth from the investigations and postmortem results,” Mr Njase said. He said the police command in the district has left the matter to the courts of law so that they can determine whether the murder charge against the officers can hold. Mr Njase urged police officers in Muchinga Province to be professional and accountable to members of the public on matters that concern them