A drunken Zambian police officer released 13 suspects from custody so they could go and celebrate the New Year, officials said.
Detective Inspector Titus Phiri was arrested after the suspects were released from the Leonard Chilo Police Station in the capital, Lusaka, before he escaped himself.
The 13 detainees were accused of crimes such as assault, robbery and burglary.
They are all currently on the run and a manhunt has been launched to find them.
Police spokesman Ray Hamunga said Mr Phiri, “in a drunken state, forcibly seized the cell keys” from policewoman Sirah Banda on New Year's Eve.
“Then, Detective Inspector Phiri opened the male and female cells and ordered the suspects to leave, saying they were free to cross into the new year,” he said.
He added, “Of the 15 suspects in custody, 13 escaped. Following the incident, the officer fled the scene.”
Mr Phiri has not yet commented on the allegations.
In response to the incident, presidential spokesman and former lawyer Dixon Geary wrote on Facebook: “I keep laughing every time I imagine the scenario – comical! But then, I remembered a similar incident in 1997.”
On New Year's Eve 1997, the late controversial Supreme Court judge Kabazo Chanda ordered the release of 53 suspects, some of whom police considered dangerous.
Mr. Chanda was disturbed that the suspects had been arrested since 1992, but had not yet appeared in court.
He added: “Delaying justice means denying justice.”
