A Zambian police officer has been arrested after releasing 13 suspects from custody while under the influence of alcohol.
The incident occurred on New Year’s Eve at Leonard Cheelo police station in Lusaka. Detective Inspector Titus Phiri, while intoxicated, seized the cell keys from a fellow officer and released 15 suspects, instructing them to “go and cross over into the new year.”
Thirteen of the suspects, facing charges ranging from assault and robbery to burglary, have since fled and are currently being sought by police. 
This incident has sparked public discussion and drew comparisons to a similar event in 1997, when the late High Court Judge Kabazo Chanda ordered the release of 53 suspects who had been detained for an extended period.
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