FOUL PLAY.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 2354, 12 November 1921, Page 3

FOUL PLAY.

ASSYRIAN HAWKER’S BODY FOUND. CASE BELIEVED TO BE ONE OF MURDER. Opotiki, Novemb. 10. ■Suspicions circumstances surround the death of an Assyrian hawker named Zam Ivukka, at the. mouth of the Mofu River. Bukka was travelling with three horses, two being used as pnekhorses. The police received word that two of the horses were wandering in the bush, and that the packs had been rifled. The saddle horse was on the opposite bank, the stirrups and bridle being missing. Bukka is said to have had £l5O in cash in addition to his stock. A subsequent search resulted in his body being found oh Ihe river bed under a heap of logs. The head had been bashed in, and the money was missing. Detective McLeod arrived from Gisborne this morning, and is carrying on an investigation. Gisborne, Nov. 10. Particulars received by the Gisborne Times to-night in connection with the case go to show that there has been foul play. Inspector Hutton, who is on the spot, says that he is convinced that the man was murdered. The body bore evidence of violence, there being gunshot wounds in the head, and other wounds on the face. That money was in the possession of deceased is at present a matter of guesswork, but a watch and chain are known for certain to have been taken from him. A post-mortem examination was biadc at Opotiki this afternoon, and gun shot was extracted from the skull. The inquest will be opened to-morrow.

The scene of the tragedy is one of the most isolated spots in the Bay of Plan tv. There is a bridle track to it from Opotiki through twenty miles of dense bush. The only residents near are one station-holder and the inhabitants of a small native pa and a native township at Omaio Bay.