Canberra bikie death: Police arrest three men in Comanchero Pitasoni Ulavalu death
A man has been shot and three others arrested following the killing of top Comanchero bikie Pitasoni Ulavalu outside a Canberra nightclub.
Canberra Star
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Canberra police have charged a man with murder and two others with affray following the bloody, public killing of local Comanchero bikie gang boss Pitasoni Ulavalu.
ACT policing chief police officer Neil Gaughan told ABC Radio that “three male persons” were in custody over an affray at Kokomo’s nightclub on Bunda St last month.
“Last night, we had a male person attend Calvary Hospital with some gunshot wounds, he was accompanied by three male persons, those three male persons are currently in custody in relation to an affray at Kokomo’s,” he said.
“They’re assisting us with out inquiries in relation to the Kokomo’s incident, and also we’re obviously investigating the gunshot injuries that occurred last night.”
On Wednesday morning, a 26-year-old Garran man, one of the three men who accompanied the shot man to hospital, was and charged with murder.
The other two, aged 22 and 23, were charged with affray.
All three are expected to appear in court on Thursday, where police will oppose bail.
Police are still investigating the shooting, and Superintendent Scott Moller said the man who had been shot was “a person of interest” in relation to Ulavalu’s death.
Ulavalu, the gang’s chapter president, bled to death on the footpath in front of the bar last month.
He was either stabbed in the neck or had his throat slit, bystanders have said, although investigators have repeatedly declined to detail any information about the brawl and Ulavalu’s stabbing.
Mr Gaughan suggested the killing of Ulavalu was likely not a case of rival gangs taking part in a turf war.
“It doesn’t appear to be gang on gang,” he said.
However the man shot and those arrested are not affiliated the with local Comanchero chapter, sources say.
Mr Gaughan’s comments are in contrast to recent fears, aired in court, about the possibility of “tit-for-tat” violence between the Comanchero and their rivals.
Mr Gaughan vowed ACT police would “crack down” on bikies and said he was “confident of a quick resolution” of the investigation into Ulavalu’s death.
Mr Gaughan also said he would only push the ACT government to change its soft anti-bikie laws if there was an “escalation in membership” of local gang chapters.
Local newspaper, The Canberra Times earlier this month misreported a Press Club address by AFP commissioner Reece Kershaw, inaccurately saying he thought the ACT “needed to consider anti-consorting rules”.
Mr Gaughan said he didn’t think anti-consorting laws would have prevented Ulavalu’s death, but did not elaborate on why.
He condemned the violence of the gang, saying the public should not be exposed to a bloody bikie violence.
He also extended his sympathies to Ulavalu’s family.
Ulavalu was buried last weekend in Sydney.
