A MAN who is in police custody after trekking for two days through dense forest from Lautoka to Ba said he did it because he missed his girlfriend.
The 23-year-old breached the Lautoka lockdown by walking for about 30km from Saru, Lautoka to Ba to see his beloved.
Police Commissioner Brigadier General Sitiveni Qiliho said investigators were also looking into claims that another man from the same household may have been involved.
He told The Fiji Times the man had trekked on foot through the forest and followed a logging track.
“He descended at Namosau, Ba,” Brig-Gen Qiliho said. He said from Ba, the 23-year-old travelled by bus to Rakiraki.
“The matter was reported by the turaganikoro (village headman) of Vatukacevaceva Village, Ra.”
The police commissioner said the suspect was arrested at the village and was under investigation for disobeying a lawful order. Brig-Gen Qiliho said they would look into claims that a second person had also crossed from Lautoka into Ba.
“We will have to look into it but the information we received from the turaganikoro was that it was one person.”
However, the wife of the second man told The Fiji Times that her husband and nephew went missing on Wednesday after they had left home together. “We received a call on Friday that both were in Rakiraki,” she claimed.
“We thought they had gone to Lovu.” The man in custody had gone to Lautoka on March 19, a day before the Lautoka lockdown.
