Zambian police said the officer released the suspects to celebrate the New Year

A drunken police officer in Zambia released 13 suspects from custody so they could go celebrate the New Year, officials say.

Detective Inspector Titus Phiri was arrested after he released the suspects from the Leonard Chilo Police Station in the capital, Lusaka, before escaping himself.

13 detainees were charged with crimes such as robbery, burglary and robbery.

All of them are now absconding and a search has been launched to find them.

Police spokesman Ray Hamunga said Mr Phiri, “while under the influence of alcohol, forcibly took the mobile phone keys” from Constable Sera Banda on New Year’s Eve.

“Detective Inspector Phiri then unlocked both the men’s and women’s cells and ordered the suspects to leave, saying they were free to move into the new year,” he said.

“Of the 15 suspects who were in custody, 13 escaped. After the incident, the officer fled the scene of the crime.”

Mr Phiri has not yet commented on the allegations.

Reacting to the incident, former presidential press secretary and lawyer Dixon Gerry wrote on Facebook: “I keep laughing every time I imagine the scenario – funny! But then I remembered a similar incident in 1997.”

On New Year’s Eve 1997, the late, controversial High Court judge Kabazo Chanda ordered the release of 53 suspects, some of whom the police deemed dangerous.

Mr. Chanda was annoyed that the suspects were arrested as far back as 1992 but have not yet appeared in court.

“Justice delayed means justice denied,” he said.