Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Peter Guinness, said the suspects died in a shootout with police.
“These suspects were not locals but a gang of thugs living in settlements in town that are conducting robberies. Five of them met their fate,” he said over the weekend.
Guinness, who is also the Divisional Commander, said police at Wara Market, who were manning the road checks during the SoE, received intelligence last Friday that there was a planned robbery along the Nebiri Top and Naru section of the Madang Highway.