Defence lawyer K. Churchill Neita, QC, has said that it will be difficult for the prosecution to prove a case against the four policemen who have been arrested in connection with the disappearance of two men five years ago.

The policemen are to face a question-and-answer exercise today. They will be questioned by senior police officers.

"As far as I am concerned, the prosecution is not likely to have any evidence of substance to prove any charges against the policemen," Neita told The Gleaner yesterday. He is representing three of the policemen.

Neita said he expected that if the evidence was not forthcoming, the men would be duly released.

The Gleaner was reliably informed that a former policeman is expected to be the main witness for the Crown if the policemen are charged.

Four policemen, including an assistant superintendent, were taken into custody on Wednesday following intensive investigations by senior police officers into the disappearance of the men.

Kemar Walters, 20, of Kitson Town, St Catherine, and Oliver Duncan, 35, mechanic, of Olympic Gardens, Kingston 11, were allegedly abducted from the Washington Boulevard Plaza, St Andrew, on December 23, 2004.

Bodies not found

The bodies of the two men have not been found but the burnt-out shell of the vehicle they were travelling in was discovered in the mangroves on the Port Royal main road.

The police reopened the case following a Gleaner investigation which had revealed that members of the police force and civilians were involved in a major auto-theft ring at the time of the alleged abduction.

The Gleaner investigation also suggested that the men might have been killed because of their involvement.

A policeman was charged in connection with the alleged abduction but he was freed in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court in 2007.

Yesterday morning, Deputy Commissioner Mark Shields had issued an appeal for help to find a fifth member of the force, who has since turned himself in.