Auki Police arrested and charged a man in his 40's over the weekend in relation to the death of a 24 year old man.

It is alleged that the deceased jumped out from a moving public bus, after he was threatened with a knife, late on Saturday afternoon at Talakali South Road, Malaita Province.

Superintendent John Waneanea of Auki Police said that initial investigation has revealed that "the man died as a result of severe head injuries ...after jumping out from the public bus he was traveling in."

Preliminary reports state that the deceased was sitting at the front of the bus when he was threatened with a knife. It is alleged that the offender ordered the bus driver to speed up the vehicle. It is not yet clear whether it was a prank gone wrong or whether the individual was indeed a target of crime.

"What we know is that the deceased, afraid of the knife, opened the bus door and jumped out when the bus was traveling at high speed. The bus continued on without stopping for several meters," said Superintendent Waneanea.

"The deceased was later picked up by the same bus which came back to take the injured 24 year old man to Auki Hospital."

The deceased was later pronounced dead.

The offender was later arrested at his home by Auki Police and charged with murder. He has been remanded in Police custody and will appear in Auki Magistrate court on 6 July 2009.