2006-04-nieuwsbronnen-engels

A 'Globe Yard' bandit was yesterday afternoon shot above the right shoulder after he was pursued by a policeman from the Plaisance bus park to Parade Ground shortly after he had snatched a chain from a man's neck.

The thief, who was dressed in an expensive pair of brand name sneakers, jeans and gold and black shirt was roughed up, kicked and beaten by the policeman and an army Lance Corporal after being caught. He was then forced into the tray of a police pick-up and whisked away to the Georgetown Hospital before being taken back to Brickdam police station lock-ups.

As he begged for help, public-spirited citizens, some also residents of the notorious 'Globe Yard' made several accusations against the thief. "He is a no-good," a woman shouted from a small crowd, which included students from St John's College. A man joined in the accusations, telling persons that the man had stolen his clothing and was usually a bully. Police in a statement said that around 3 pm, an armed policeman observed the thief, who had snatched the gold chain from a male passenger in a minibus at the Plaisance car park, at Regent Street and Avenue of the Republic.

The thief ran north into Avenue of the Republic, but was pursued by the policeman and a number of public-spirited persons. He was eventually caught in the vicinity of the Promenade Gardens and arrested by an army Lance Corporal, the police statement said. According to the police at this stage the thief pulled out a cutlass from his waist and began firing chops at the soldier, whereupon the policeman and a civilian licensed firearm holder both discharged rounds at him. He was hit above the right shoulder.

Police recovered the chain and the cutlass and are requesting that the victim of the robbery report to the Brickdam Police Station to identify the chain and assist with further investigations. (Stabroek News)

Policeman charged with taking bribe to drop criminal charge

A police officer accused of accepting a bribe to drop a criminal charge against a man, appeared on Tuesday in the Georgetown Magistrate's Court. Earl Peterkin (no address given) denied the allegation of corrupt transaction and was released on $15,000 bail by Acting Chief Magistrate Cecil Sullivan.

It is alleged that on May 29, 2004, at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Headquarters, being an agent of the government, Peterkin corruptly obtained from Andrew Sookhoo US$150 as an inducement for not bringing a criminal charge against him.

His lawyer George Jackman asked the court to grant his client nominal bail. Police prosecutor Maxine Graham told the court that she was not objecting to bail. The matter will continue on June 2 in Court Two. (Stabroek News)

SEVENTY-FOUR more persons were detained for questioning as the Police and the Army yesterday expanded into two more “suspect” villages as they seek to arrest the crime wave which reached a new height with the assassination of Minister Satyadeow Sawh at the weekend.

A top source yesterday told the Guyana Chronicle the operations would be intensified and the aim is to sanitise supposed safe havens for criminal gangs and make it difficult for them to find succor and ‘friendly terrain’.

The current phase of the cordon and sweep exercises swung into motion in the troubled East Coast Demerara village of Buxton Monday and soldiers and police moved in and set up camp in the southern section – widely previously regarded as a dangerous and no-go zone for Police. The Joint Serves launched the extensive operation in Buxton on Monday and swooped into Bare Root, also on the East Coast, and Agricola, East Bank Demerara yesterday morning.

Lt. Colonel Claude Fraser of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) said 120 houses were searched in Bare Root and 49 persons were arrested, while 25 houses were searched in Agricola and 25 persons were arrested. Eighteen persons were arrested in Buxton Monday. He said no weapons were found.

Fraser said the operation would expand to other places where intelligence suggests they should go in the bid to recover the 30 AK-47 rifles and five pistols which disappeared from Army Camp Ayanganna headquarters, and to assist the civil authorities in restoring law and order to the society. The Army and Police have set up a sizeable camp in Buxton, where heavily armed criminals are thought to be holed up.

However, Fraser told reporters Wednesday that while there were undoubtedly some criminal elements operating inside Buxton, it was the goal of the Joint Services operation to debunk “the myth” that the village was a safe haven for criminals. After they were assured that the village was free of criminal elements, the GDF spokesman stated, the Joint Services would continue their operations elsewhere.

Located at the southernmost extremity of Buxton, the Joint Services camp occupies a large, mostly vacant, plot of land bordered by Company Path and Church of God Road. The encampment is surrounded by mostly vacant shacks and smaller houses and boasts several large tents, portable toilets and several support vehicles, including an ambulance.

Fraser Wednesday explained that the operation there was jointly headed by a GDF Major and a Police Superintendent. Patrols operate out of the Buxton base 24-hours-a-day and after each patrol the participating ranks would be debriefed. He explained that the base encampment can rapidly deploy ranks to any potential incident either within the village or along the East Coast. (Guyana Cronicle)

Another good soldier gone

SECURITY guard, Curtis Robertson, hailed as “a soldier to the end” by Roger Sawh, son of slain Minister Satyadeow Sawh, was laid to rest yesterday afternoon. Robertson, 37, who leaves behind his reputed wife Rehanna Haywood and seven sons -- between one to 13 years old -- was gunned down along with Sawh, his siblings Rajpat Rai Sawh and Pulmattie Persaud early Saturday.

Robertson was an unarmed guard working at the minister’s home, when he was brutally murdered by heavily-armed masked men who simply walked off the scene. Police said their intention was to execute the minister, his family, and any eyewitnesses. Robertson stood guard at the minister’s house, in the company of their German Shepherd dog, Brutus. The dog was also killed.

He was described as a hardworking and jovial person who loved life, by those who paid tribute to him at the Lyken Funeral Chapel in Georgetown. The minister’s son Roger paid tribute to Robertson when he spoke at his father’s funeral service Tuesday.

General Secretary of the Guyana Rice Producers Association (RPA) Mr. Dharamkumar Seeraj, in his tribute yesterday, said Robertson’s boyishness and jovial manner may have been some of the qualities that attracted him and the late Minister Sawh to each other, since they were very much alike in those aspects.

He told persons that the greatest tribute they can pay to Robertson is to adopt some of his qualities to take them through life. Reading the eulogy, his sister, Ms. Jennifer Robertson-Scott, described her brother as an ambitious person who was always willing to go the extra mile for his children.

She said he lived a respectful life and was well liked by his colleagues and superiors. Deputy Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Mr. Hydar Ally, was among mourners at the service. Robertson was buried at Le Repentir Cemetery. (Guyana Cronicle)

The information about the arrests was given by a high ranking Police Force officer on the scene, during a media visit to the encampment, arranged by the Guyana Defence Force.

The officer would not specify the reason or reasons for the arrests, except to confirm the assertion by GDF spokesman, Lt. Col. Claude Fraser that they were made during the Joint Services operation under way in the village.

Fraser said the encampment began Monday. Located at the southernmost extremity of the village, the camp occupies a large, mostly vacant, plot of land bordered by Company Path and Church of God Road. The encampment is surrounded by mostly vacant shacks and smaller houses and boasts several large tents, portable toilets and several support vehicles, including an ambulance.

The Army spokesman explained that the operation was jointly headed by a GDF Major and a Police Superintendent. Patrols operate out of the base 24-hours-a-day and after each patrol the participating ranks would be debriefed.

He explained that the base encampment can rapidly deploy ranks to any potential incident either within the village or along the East Coast.

Questioned about the reasons for the establishment of the base and the conducting of the patrols, the Army spokesman said this was part of the continuing `Operation Centipede’ in which the Joint Services have been engaged since late last year.

Fraser also stated that the encampment and the patrols constituted part of the Army’s overall search for the 30 high-powered AK-47 rifles and five pistols discovered missing earlier this year, as well as its continued support of “the civil authorities in restoring law and order to society.”

He stated that, as with other Joint Services operations, the Police ranks were there to perform their mandated function of peace-keeping and arrest, while the GDF ranks ensured that no harm came to their colleagues.

Asked whether the encampment followed last Saturday’s killing of acting Agriculture Minister Satyadeow Sawh, two of his siblings and his security guard and reports that ammunition used linked the perpetrators to Buxton, Fraser stated that the operation was planned before the shootings.

He noted that the patrols have been combing the backlands of the village and have so far found items of clothing, footwear and crockery but nothing to indicate that there has been any camp with more than one or two persons.

The brutal slaying of the minister and the three other victims at LBI, an East Coast village not far from Buxton, was carried out in a well-planned operation by a group of heavily-armed men who seemed intent on leaving no eyewitnesses alive, Police said.

Fraser stated that while there were undoubtedly some criminal elements operating inside Buxton, it was the goal of the Joint Services operation to debunk “the myth” that the village was a safe haven for criminals. After they were assured that the village was free of criminal elements, the GDF spokesman stated, the Joint Services would continue their operations elsewhere.

The Army officer said that so far the presence of the Joint Services in the village has given most villagers a sense of peace and security and they were much more willing to come forward with information than was normal. The reactions of villagers to the encampment and patrols have been mixed from what this newspaper observed, however.

Women mainly hurled expletives and threats at the two mini-buses carrying Army ranks and reporters, just as the vehicles left the East Coast Highway. Deeper in the village, however, seemed deserted with mainly children milling about where a patrol had stopped for a few minutes. One young woman had kind words for the Army ranks, while claiming Police ranks had earlier cleared the streets in a manner she found to be apprehensive.

From his veranda, one resident said the situation was tense with villagers hardly moving around, but that he understood that the Joint Services had a job to do. Some villagers objected to the occupation of the land on which the encampment was based, although according to GDF Public Relations Officer, Captain Earl Edghill, no one had come forward with any official objection. (Ruel Johnson/Guyana Cronicle)

Guyana has asked Canada for law enforcement help

High Commissioner

CANADIAN High Commissioner to Guyana, Mr. Bruno Picard, yesterday said the Guyana Government has requested help from Canada to strengthen the security forces here. He told the Guyana Chronicle the request was not specifically on the investigations into the assassination of Minister Satyadeow Sawh, and the simultaneous triple murders of his brother, Rajpat Rai Sawh, sister Pulmattie Persaud and security guard Curtis Robertson.

Referring to the Guyana Chronicle article yesterday in which Rejean Beaulieu, a spokesman for Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs said there was no request of the Canadian government to help in the probe, Picard said while this was true, the official omitted saying that the government had asked for help in strengthening local law enforcement in a general sense.

However, he said while help was not requested of the Canadians to specifically deal with the Saturday morning slayings at LBI, East Coast Demerara, help was offered to the Guyana Police Force. Minister Sawh and the others were executed by an armed gang just after they had returned from an outing.

His brother and sister slain were Canadian citizens who were home for the one year death anniversary ceremony for their mother. (Guyana Cronicle)

One person was shot and injured and several others robbed at gunpoint after a bus with 41 persons en route to Lethem was attacked yesterday by six gunmen who appeared to be after a large sum of elections money which they thought would be on board.

Police said it was around 3.30 am when six armed men stormed the bus which had broken down at 50/51 Miles, Mabura. During the robbery, Albert Alece, 56, one of the two drivers of the Correia's Transportation Service bus BHH 183, who was under the vehicle attempting to effect repairs, was shot in his left upper arm. The police said that a short distance away from where the bus broke down, two logs were found across the road indicating that an ambush was planned.

Sources last night told Stabroek News that it appeared that the gunmen may have gotten wind of a Guyana Elections Commis-sion plan to transport $2M by road with elections workers who were headed to the region. However, arrangements for the transport of the money were changed at the last moment. Sources say that when the gunmen launched their hair-raising assault on the bus they asked by name for the person who was to have been transporting the money. The person was not on board.

The police yesterday said that investigations have so far revealed that the bus left Linden around 11.50 pm on Monday with 41 persons including two drivers and a security officer.

While on the Mabura road, the bus developed mechanical problems forcing the driver to stop. It was then that the six gunmen attacked the passengers and proceeded to rob them. Speaking with Stabroek News, one of the passengers said they saw the six men racing towards the bus firing as they came. The passenger said the bandits were all armed and masked and wore bulletproof vests. One, who appeared to be the ringleader, was wearing camouflage clothing with the words 'GDF' written across his bulletproof vest.

Three of the bandits entered the bus, while the other three stood guard outside. Upon entering, the passenger recalled, the leader said: "we ain't come fuh kill nobody. We just are looking for two persons." After completing their search, which proved futile, the men decided to rob the passengers. They took cash, jewellery, two lap top computers and electrical equipment.

Twenty-five of the passengers were Guyana Elections Commission employees and the others were Brazilians and Guyanese. The passenger reported that one of the bandits was behaving in a berserk manner and shot his own finger off. "After he shot his finger he started to say that somebody gat to pay for this," the witness said, adding that the ringleader had a difficult time controlling the man who fired several shots through the floor of the bus. It was then that the second driver was hit.

The other driver and two passengers had already escaped into the nearby bushes and later reported the incident at the Mabura police outpost. An employee of the transportation service told Stabroek News yesterday afternoon that the driver who was shot was treated at the Mackenzie Hospital and sent away. At this point, the employee who did not wish to be named, said that details of the incident were a bit sketchy.

The employee said the security guard on the bus was armed at the time of the incident. He was however "beaten and disarmed" during the ordeal, she said, adding that an armed guard was the only security measure in place. She said further that the bandits were attacking with all types of weapons and in large numbers.

Investigations into this incident are continuing. On March 17 this year two buses loaded with miners and Brazilian strippers were hijacked along the same trail by two gunmen who were in one of the vehicles. They robbed 15 persons of articles worth over $1M before driving away with the buses and two passengers, a Brazilian woman and the three-year-old daughter of one of the drivers.

The gunmen drove about ten miles from the scene of the robbery where they rummaged through the passengers' bags, leaving items from the bags strewn on the ground. They then abandoned their hostages. (Stabroek News)

The High Court trial of Kenneth Sydney, who was accused of killing his wife nearly three years ago over a property dispute, came to an end yesterday when Justice Dawn Gregory-Barnes sentenced him to 15 years imprisonment.

Before a packed courtroom of mostly family and friends, an unruffled Sydney listened as the judge sentenced him to a total of 23 years: 15 years for killing his wife Florence Sydney and eight years for wounding his sister-in-law Pauline George. The sentences will run concurrently.

Justice Gregory-Barnes passed judgment after a passionate plea in mitigation from defence counsel Hukumchand. She said to the accused: "I have considered that you placed yourself at the mercy of this court and your age but I have also considered that these persons were shot at close range and in cold blood."

A probation report read in court yesterday by Social Services Officer Carol Williams revealed that Sydney's early family life was disintegrated and that this might have had an impact on the things he did later in his life.

The report said he was born at Buxton, East Coast Demerara and spent his formative years there under the care and custody of his father. He met Florence in 1976, the accused told the investigating officer, and they had a good life. But he said the relationship soured after they started to acquire property. This, he claimed, was due to dishonesty on her part.

The report stated also that Sydney carried on an extra-marital affair, which produced a child and this caused a rift between him and his wife. However, the report said, he had no history of displaying aggressive behaviour.

Williams told the court that family violence and domestic violence that result in the loss of lives are too common today. She said had there been early professional intervention in the marriage, Florence Sydney's death might have been prevented.

After the report was read, Hukumchand made a plea in mitigation to the court on his client's behalf. He said the accused still did not know how to explain what happened that fateful day because it deviated from his normal behaviour.

"The saying it takes one straw to break the camel's back could be applied here. The only conclusion I have come up with after speaking with my client is that he was provoked," the lawyer said.

According to Hukum-chand, it came to the point where Sydney could not take it anymore. He said people were saying things to Florence Sydney about her husband and it created problems for the couple. One month prior to the shooting, he said Florence left the home without saying where she was going. On the day of the incident, Hukumchand said, Florence went to the home with the person who was among those creating problems for the couple.

Referring to the statement in the probation report that an early intervention might have prevented the killing, the defence counsel said the system had failed. He said men too were victims of domestic abuse, adding that some men have also died as a result. He implored that the court take cognizance of Sydney's 57 years, because that was the age when a person was at the beginning of his/her sunset years.

Sydney was indicted for the murder of his wife but he later pleaded guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter. He had shot his wife during a quarrel at their Nabaclis home over who owned the property. (Stabroek News)

Trail of assassins leads to Buxton

Police

THE Police have traced the gang that assassinated Minister Satyadeow Sawh, two of his siblings and a security guard to Buxton and have dropped an initial robbery theory to second place, revealing a well coordinated plan “to eliminate all possible eye witnesses and execute the minister and his family.”

The Police in a statement last night said some of the weapons used by the gang that executed Minister Sawh and the others were the same used in the Eccles/Agricola, East Bank Demerara massacre in February. The weapons used then matched one used when Police were fired at in Buxton, the East Coast Demerara village in which the government believes dangerous criminals are holed up.

“It is notable that a gun recovered from a bandit who was shot and killed at Buxton during a recent shootout with the Police did match shells found at the Eccles Petrol Station,” a statement from Police headquarters noted.

Police Commissioner Winston Felix Saturday said their initial theory in the quadruple murders was robbery, but that theory was dropped yesterday. They now believe the main motive was to assassinate the minister and his family.

Those slain with Minister Sawh Saturday morning at his LBI, East Coast Demerara home were his brother Rajpat Rai Sawh, sister Pulmatie Persaud and security guard Curtis Robertson. “Based on a careful study, scrutiny and analysis of the total picture surrounding the incident, it now appears that the bandits intended to eliminate all possible eye witnesses and execute the minister and his family,” the Police stated.

“A secondary motive seems to have been robbery. Police have confirmed so far that in addition to the cash stolen, jewellery and a digital camera were also stolen from a bedroom during the incident,” the statement added.

Police ballistic tests have confirmed the use of at least six firearms, five of which may have been AK 47’s or M 70’s, and one of which may have been an SLR or G3. Based on the extraction of pellets by the police vet, Doctor B. Lord, from the body of a dog which was shot, it is suspected that a shotgun may have also been used, Police said.

Ballistic tests were done on ten 7.62 x 39 empty shells, two 7.62 x 51 empty shells and two 7.62 x 39 warheads along with fragments from the ammunition, Police stated. Police said ballistic tests on spent shells found at the scene of the Saturday morning killings were fired from the same firearms used to fire spent shells recovered at different scenes.

First, two of the 7.62 x 51 spent shells matched two 7.62 x 51 spent shells recovered from the murder scene at the Two Brothers Petrol Station at Eccles on February 26, 2006. Secondly, two 7.62 x 39 spent shells matched 14 spent shells found at the murder scene of Lavern Scott at 115 Caesar Street, Agricola.

Thirdly, the Police said 7.62 x 39 spent shells matched 17 spent shells found at the murder scene of David Brummell and Hannah Cameron at 40 Brutus Street, Agricola and 54 shells at the Two Brothers Petrol Station at Eccles and 45 at the murder scene of David Barrow and others during 2005. This confirms that at least two of the weapons used at the Agricola/Eccles murder scenes were also used at the minister’s murder scene, Police said.

“It now seems likely that elements who were involved in the execution last year of David Barrow and others, and the Agricola/Eccles incident this year, were involved in the execution of the minister,” the statement added. A heavily-armed gang on February 26 last slaughtered eight persons, including two women in a rampage that started at the Eccles gas station and spread to nearby Agricola.

A post mortem conducted on the four persons slain last Saturday showed the cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds, Police said. As the Police investigations continue, the force said it has been unable to confirm, but it seems highly probable, that the shooting incidents at the different homes may have occurred simultaneously.

“This is due to the fact that neither Minister Sawh nor occupants of the home guarded by the security guard Albert Mangra, seemed to have been alerted by any gunshots prior to the attack on Minister Sawh’s home,” Police stated. Police have also confirmed that a strange car was seen parked in the area around 19:00h and its occupants may have been monitoring Minister Sawh’s movements.

In addition, a few gunmen were seen positioned in a nearby street north of the minister’s home during the attack, apparently to provide covering fire to those carrying out the execution. Police tracker dogs which combed the area were able to trace the movement of the killers on to the railway embankment north of the minister’s home, using a path also north of the house.

Police said their enquiries are continuing “with a view to bringing the perpetrators to justice” and the force has called for the help of the public “to provide any information which may lead to the arrest and prosecution of the perpetrators of this dastardly act.” The Government Information Agency (GINA) said a Joint Services operation was conducted in the backlands of Buxton yesterday morning. Among the items discovered were military clothing, an infrared goggles and a collapsible tent, the agency said. (Guyana Cronicle)

The relatives of a 72-year-old man, who suffers from forgetfulness, are desperately looking for him as he has not been seen since April 8.

Robert Osmond Williams also known as 'Smiles' left his 35 William Street, Kitty, home on Saturday, April 8, wearing a green shirt and khaki pants and carrying a brown briefcase. Williams lives with his elderly sister but according to one of his sons he would visit him almost every day.

There have been reports of the man being seen in and around the city. Anyone knowing the whereabouts of the man is asked to call Ian Hercules on telephone numbers, 616-5200 and 227-0206, Lorna Williams at St Sidwell's Church or Dornell Bartrum on 648-3908. A reward is offered. (Stabroek News)

GDF completes inquiry into Officer Cadet’s murder

GUYANA Defence Force (GDF) spokesman Lt. Col. Claude Fraser yesterday said Officer Cadet Amar Rajcumar who died on April 11, was on Monday cremated with full military rites. Rajcumar, 21, of Seafield, Leonora, West Coast Demerara, collapsed during a training session at the GDF Camp Stephenson, Timehri.

On Thursday last, GDF Chief-of-Staff Brigadier General Edward Collins, said the post mortem results showed the cadet was murdered. The post mortem showed Rajcumar died from a severe blow to the back of the head. A GDF board of inquiry was set up to investigate the matter and yesterday Fraser said it has been completed and the matter is in the hands of the Police who are doing their own investigation.

When President Bharrat Jagdeo visited the cadet’s home on Friday last, he assured the family that everything will be done to find the killer or killers. “We intend to find the killer or killers because it was a small group that was there and we know the people that were present and therefore we are going to find out who did this and the full force of the law would be brought to bear upon them”, he said.

After working in the private sector, Rajcumar served as a Presidential Guard in the Guyana Police Force for two years and recently resigned and applied for the Standard Officers’ Course No. 39. (Guyana Cronicle)

In a reaction to the findings of a post mortem yesterday that Amar Rajcumar died from a blow to the head, Brigadier Collins told the Guyana Chronicle the autopsy “has shown clearly that he was murdered”.

“The GDF will do everything in its power to find the person or persons who were involved”, he said, adding, “we will pursue this relentlessly to the end until the perpetrators are brought to justice.” Collins noted that the Army’s Board of Inquiry into the death was continuing and the Police are also investigating. He extended condolences to the family of the 21-year-old cadet.

The Government Information Agency (GINA) said Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, President Bharrat Jagdeo, has also expressed his condolences to the family.

An Army spokesman said a member of the training staff has since been removed from the officers’ course and is confined to the Army base at Timehri. He said the internal inquiry began on the night of the incident and all the cadets and members of staff on the course are being questioned. The post mortem, the spokesman said, showed that Rajcumar was hit on the back of the head.

The Army Tuesday night said it had launched an internal inquiry into the circumstances of the death of Rajcumar, of Seafield, Leonora, West Coast Demerara. It said Rajcumar was pronounced dead at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) on Tuesday afternoon after he reportedly collapsed during a Standard Officers training session at the Army base at Timehri.

The Army in a statement issued late Tuesday night reported that at about 12:45 h that day, the students were involved in a physical training session and “during that session, OCDT Amar Rajcumar collapsed”. The Army said he was immediately taken to the medical centre at Base Camp Stephenson, Timehri where the medic on duty referred him to the GPHC. He was pronounced dead on arrival at the GPHC at 14:45 h, the Army said.

It noted that the Standard Officers Course # 39, commenced April 3 with 35 students, including Rajcumar. The course began with 27 persons from the GDF, four from the Guyana Police Force (GPF), one from the Guyana Prison Service (GPS), one from the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) and two from the Belize Defence Force (BDF). (Guyana Cronicle)

In a daring early morning heist five gunmen robbed two Regent Street stores and attempted to attack another before escaping in the direction of King Street.

The Sales Supervisor at Bhojwani's Dry Goods store located at 98 Regent Street between Wellington and King streets told Stabroek News that the store opened around 8.45 am and personnel were just settling in for the day when the robbery occurred.

Around 9 am two customers entered the store, reports said, and approached the sales supervisor. They told him they were interested in an item located at the south-eastern end of the store. The store is on the northern side of Regent Street and stretches northward from its Regent Street entrance.

They held his attention there while two other armed men confronted the security guard, who is attached to the Crime Busters Security Force, and took him behind the same counter with the sales supervisor. Two of them remained there while another stood in the main passageway in the store.

The other two moved to the cashiers' section, which is not caged and demanded money. They ransacked the place and got just over $100,000, the supervisor said, after which they filed quietly out of the store and went in the direction of King Street. The supervisor estimated that the hold-up lasted for 25 minutes. It left staff of the store shocked and shaken up. "In my ten years of working at this place of business this has never happened," the supervisor said. He explained that during the ordeal persons were ordered to "keep your mouth shut," by the bandits.

Around the same time or shortly after the attack at Bhojwani's two men entered Alim Shah's Dry Goods store at 97 Regent Street and approached the cashier. Manager Saheed Lakeram told Stabroek News that around 9.15 am two men went into the store posing as customers.

As they got to the cashier area, which again was not caged, one of them took out a gun, pointed it at the cashier and said "no one make a move". He went into the cahier area and asked about the safe. The proprietor told them there was no safe and ordered the cashier to open the cash register.

At this point the other bandit went behind the counter and removed $25,000 from the drawer. They then walked calmly out of the store towards King Street, "without hurting anybody or terrorising any customers," said the manager. He had observed about three other customers standing closer to the front of the store. The men spent about five minutes in the store the manager noted.

The elderly security guard at Alim Shah, Bertram Harry said he was not aware that anything was wrong in the store. At the time of the robbery he was occupied distributing donations to the needy. He was told shortly after the men had left to close the doors of the store and that was when he learnt of the occurrence. However, the store resumed business shortly after the incident. When Stabroek News got to the scene, customers were purchasing items oblivious to what had transpired only a few moments earlier.

A nearby store narrowly avoided being robbed as well. The dry goods retailer was alerted to the presence of one of the bandits and closed the inner grill door before anything could happen there.

In a strange twist it was revealed by Samuels that the men had told the security guard at Bhojwani's about a month ago they are targeting the store for a robbery. Reports were made to the police and statements taken but according to information from the sales supervisor the only difference in their approach was a heightened alertness.

According to Manager of Crime Busters, Mark Samuels two of the men were standing outside the store before the attack began. After the security guard was taken care of the men then went into the store where they approached the cashier/proprietor who was also relieved of his jewellery. He said the men were using top-of-the-line handguns in the course of the two robberies that he described as "clean" since no shots were fired or anyone injured.

Samuels said the store was offered the option of more security officers but said it was not affordable. He added also that it was difficult to get security officers at this time considering the present crime wave in the country. According to him persons were fearful for their lives hence the hesitation to join the service.

Police were immediately called in after the robberies occurred. They arrived in good time to take statements and get the preliminary investigations off the ground as the stores were all back in business by noon. (Stabroek News/Christopher Yaw)

Gunman shot dead at Mahdia identified as ‘A.P.’

POLICE said yesterday that the gunman shot dead during a confrontation, at Mahdia, Potaro, on Monday, has been identified as Ivelaw Pitt called ‘A.P.’, of Lot 29, Number 41 Village, West Coast Berbice. A post mortem examination is expected to be performed on his body shortly.

In a previous press release on the incident, Police said Sharoana Parsram, 43, of 111 Miles Mahdia, was robbed of 10 ounces of gold by a man who had earlier stolen her licensed firearm and ammunition.

She had gone out from her home but, upon returning, Parsram was accosted by the lone bandit who escaped with the booty, including the Browning pistol and matching bullets which were recovered from the deceased. (Guyana Cronicle)

Two policemen have been placed under close arrest after a post-mortem done on the body of man who had been taken into custody on Saturday for a traffic offence revealed that he died as a result of a severe blow to the back of the neck.

Mini-bus driver, Orin Adams, 49, of 27 Prince William Street, Plaisance died suddenly after being held by the police. His family had expressed concern about the manner in which he was treated by the police.

The post-mortem, which was done yesterday, revealed that his cause of death was cardiac respiratory failure due to the displacement of the spine as a result of a blow to the back of the neck. The man's body revealed no other signs of ill health.

The man's sister-in-law Audrey Carrega told Stabroek News yesterday that from the information she received Adams had stopped around 6 am at a no stopping sign in the vicinity of Avenue of the Republic not very far from the Plaisance bus park to pick up a passenger. The police then drove up and told him to stop. The man refused since he was of the opinion he had not done anything wrong. Reports from the conductor with whom he was working on that day are that they had not done anything to violate the law.

It was also mentioned that their documents were checked and everything was in order. Reports are that the police patrol car followed the bus, 'Shattas', which he was driving, to the Plaisance bus park.

Upon arriving at the bus park the police came up and asked him to get out of the bus. There was an exchange of words and one of the two policemen began to assault the man by hitting him behind the neck. Carrega stated that they punched him four times behind the neck. These punches are what possibly led to the man's death.

After roughing up Adams the police got him out of the bus. He reportedly had suggested to the police that he drive to the station with the bus but they refused to allow this and instead took him to the police station in their squad car. The conductor was not allowed to accompany Adams to the station.

It was confirmed by the man's sister-in-law that he collapsed and died at the station shortly after he was taken there. She said the police told her after taking him there that they let him go. The conductor of the bus had related to her that after the police took Adams to the Brickdam police station he followed shortly after.

However, upon arriving, Adams was not there and he was told that Adams had left for the hospital. When he got to the hospital he was told that Adams' body was already at the mortuary. Adams' sister-in-law also supported this adding that at the hospital they were not allowed to see more than the man's face. She was however allowed to view the post-mortem exercise yesterday where it was observed that the man exhibited no obvious sign of ill health. It was noted however that there was a blood clot in the region of his upper spine.

Adams had no problem with anyone, his sister-in-law declared, also stating he was a plainspoken person who would have been very straight forward with the police particularly if he knew he had not committed any offence.

The two police ranks involved have been placed under close arrest as investigations into the matter continue. Adams has left to mourn his wife, mother and six siblings. There have been several other cases where persons detained by the police have died in custody. Inquests are still to be done in some of these matters. (Christopher Yaw/Stabroek News))

HOUSE ON FIRE: Flames sweep through the house in Norton Street, Georgetown yesterday. (Quacy Sampson photo)

A FIRE at Lot ‘D’ Norton Street, Lodge, Georgetown, yesterday left two families homeless.

Neighbours said the fire of unknown origin started in the bedroom of one of four houses in the yard at around 10:00 h.

The fire swept through the second out of four houses in one yard destroying everything in the upper flat.

Latoya Anderson who lived with her son, brother, sister and cousin in the upstairs of the house recalled that she was sitting in the living room watching television, when she started to smell something burning, but took it for nothing.

Fire victims

She said when she started to get more of the burning smell inside the house she got up to see what it was.

Upon checking the first bedroom where the smell was coming from, she discovered the entire room was in flames leaving her to grab her only son and rushed outside for help.

“I was watching television when I smelt something burning, but I didn’t take it for nothing. Then I started to smell something burning more like inside the house and when I check the whole room was in flames. Now the fire burn out everything; I don’t have anything. All my working clothes and money burn up,” said Ms. Anderson.

However, on arriving at the scene, the GFS had no water to put the fire out, but helpful neighbours assisted the fire fighters in obtaining water from a nearby trench to quickly prevent the other houses from burning.

Marcia Warell, who lives downstairs with her three children, did not suffer much from the fire, but her flat was flooded.

Neighbours recalled seeing flames on a power line and in the ceiling of the house, but no one knew how the fire started. (Guyana Cronicle)

Traumatised but unhurt GBTI employees (backing camera) speaking with a policeman at the robbery scene.

It happened at the premises of Esso fuel station on Vlissengen Road, about 08:45 h, said a press statement from the GBTI main office, Water Street, also in Georgetown.

The statement said staff members were about to replenish the ATM facility. A scuffle ensued between the gunmen and the guards and there was an exchange of gunfire but the robbers fled with the money, GBTI confirmed. The bank said none of its staffers was hurt and Police are carrying out investigations into the heist.

However, GBTI informed customers that service at the ATM has resumed. Eyewitnesses said the apparently young gunmen had earlier disembarked from a motor car that was parked on Lama Avenue, also in Bel Air Park.

From there, the trio walked to the Vlissengen Road crime scene, held the bank personnel at gunpoint and stole the cash after discharging about six shots, one of which pierced the glass door of the ATM and left a hole. After grabbing the booty, the gunmen walked away briskly and escaped in a car, the Guyana Chronicle was told. (Guyana Cronicle)

As investigations intensify into the execution of Managing Director of S.A Nabi and Sons Ltd, Gazz Sheermohamed, police say they are holding a man who they suspect to be withholding information about the murder.

Senior police sources confirmed to this newspaper yesterday that a man who they suspect witnessed the shooting to death of the 61-year-old contractor last week Thursday afternoon or knew what transpired is being detained at the Brickdam Police Station.

The man, according to the police sources, seems to be withholding information based upon a statement he gave and the interrogation he went through. Police are hoping that he would provide information so that detectives can go after the killers.

The police sources said that while the man is suspected to be withholding information there is no evidence to link him with the actual killing of the contractor. Construction workers at North Ruimveldt Multilateral School where the execution took place had told this newspaper that they felt that persons unknown were deployed at the school before the shooting.

One worker said the timing and precision of the killing suggest that Sheermohamed's killers knew for a fact that no one was going to intercept them and the coast was clear for them to attack. Several persons reside near to the school but none of them witnessed the shooting.

Crime Chief Henry Greene told Stabroek News yesterday that the police have not yet developed a motive for Sheermohamed's killing. He however hinted that detectives are working on a particular theory. Greene said what the police are very sure of is that robbery was not the motive for the killing of the contractor. He said there was also clear evidence that the killers did not go close to Sheermohamed's car, noting that they shot him through his vehicle's window. Greene told Stabroek News that a substantial sum of cash was found on the contractor's person.

Stabroek News had been told that paid gunmen executed the master builder around 4:30 pm last Thursday in the school's compound. He sustained at least three shots, two connecting to his head.

Sheermohamed, of 80 Third Avenue, Subryanville was shot while sitting in his PHH 6635 double-cab Toyota pick-up in the compound of the school, witnesses told this newspaper. The school was in the process of being renovated by S.A Nabi and Sons Ltd, the company which also built the new Caricom Secretariat Headquarters at Turkeyen.

According to reports, a car drove into the compound behind Sheermohamed's vehicle as he was sitting in the front seat and then it passed his vehicle before turning around. One man came out and fired five shots at Sheermohamed, jumped back into the car and sped away.

Sheermohamed's vehicle was parked facing east at the time, according to reports. Having shot the contractor the attackers got back into the vehicle and sped out of the compound onto Mandela Avenue.

Construction workers at the school told Stabroek News that none of them witnessed the actual execution but heard the gunshots when they went off. This newspaper was told that Sheermohamed had made at least two visits to the work site during the course of Thursday, the earlier one being at 2 pm.

Workers said around 4:30 pm on Thursday some of them were standing at a door of the school when they saw Sheermohamed's vehicle turn into the compound. Sheermohamed had barely parked the vehicle on a basketball tarmac in the schoolyard when the gunmen drove in behind him. The workers heard five gunshots before the killers' car sped out of the compound and disappeared.

Noting that Sheermohamed had provided employment for many citizens, the workers themselves are worried as to what their future would be like.

The execution comes in the wake of a myriad of similar killings, beginning with talk show host, Ronald Waddell. Police at their just-concluded officers' conference identified execution-style killings as a matter to be addressed urgently. (Stabroek News)

President applauded at Police Officers conference

CLOSE EAR: reporters outside the Police Officers Mess, Eve Leary, during President Bharrat Jagdeo’s address to the annual Police Officers Conference last night. The session was not open to the media. (Delano Williams photo)

President Bharrat Jagdeo last evening addressed the annual Police officers conference, downplaying suggestions that his absence from the opening ceremony Thursday was a ‘slight’ on his part in light of a controversial purported taped telephone conversation involving Police Commissioner Winston Felix.

Sources said the President expressed “full confidence” in Commissioner Felix and his force, drawing thunderous applause from the officers meeting at Eve Leary, Georgetown to brainstorm strategies to maintain law and order.

The session at which Mr. Jagdeo addressed the officers was not open to the media.

FULL CONFIDENCE: Commissioner of Police Winston Felix greets President Bharrat Jagdeo on arrival at the Police Officers Mess, Eve Leary last night. (Delano Williams photo)

The Guyana Chronicle understands that Felix afterwards thanked the President for his presence and underscored the importance this had for the morale of the officers of the Force.

The President said his absence from the opening ceremony was because of an ear ache, sources indicated. (Guyana Cronicle)

April 7. 2006

Managing Director of one of Guyana’s leading contracting firms, S. A Nabi & Sons, Mr Gazz Sheermohamed, 60, was killed execution-style yesterday afternoon in the compound of the North Ruimveldt Multilateral School in Georgetown.

He was assassinated between 16:30h and 17:00h, a few minutes after he drove his open back 4 x 4 vehicle into the compound of the North Ruimveldt Multilateral School to inspect ongoing refurbishing work on the building being done by his firm.

Sources said as soon as the contractor stopped his vehicle, a gold-coloured motor car also drove into the compound and stopped next to Nabi’s vehicle. It is understood that two persons emerged from the assailants’ vehicle, both armed with handguns.

One of the gunmen reportedly took a few steps towards Nabi’s vehicle and fired several shots at the contractor, three of which reportedly hit him in the head. The gunmen then jumped back into their vehicle and sped away. There were also unconfirmed reports that the contractor had more than $500,000 in cash on him at the time but the money was said to be intact when his body was removed from the vehicle.

Nabi was taken to a city hospital where he was pronounced dead. The work on the school has about another two weeks for completion. The motive for the killing was unknown up to press time and there was no evidence of any robbery. Workers and those closely associated with Sheermohamed told the Guyana Chronicle that he was always a simple and charitable person and they are shocked at his brutal killing.

S. A. Nabi & Sons is involved in numerous projects in Guyana, and is among the leading contracting firms for the Primary Education Improvement Programme (PEIP). It built the National Cultural Centre and more recently the new CARICOM headquarters at Turkeyen. The firm employs more than 150 workers and is engaged in several infrastructure projects throughout the country. (Guyana Croniocle)

Stealing AK-47s plot will fail

Collins vows

`…any attempts to use those weapons will be immediately crushed’

GUYANA Defence Force (GDF) Chief of Staff, Brigadier Edward Collins yesterday appealed to those who have the high-powered AK-47 rifles stolen from the Army to turn them in because the weapons are of no use.

“Whatever motives you have, it will not work. I promise you that it will not work and I give this assurance to the Guyanese people as well,” he declared.

Noting that the GDF and the Police Force have been in operation for the past few weeks, Collins told reporters that “the Joint Services body is very, very active and we are moving resolutely and we are following every single lead that we have” in the committed efforts to recover the weapons.

In his first full media briefing since the guns were discovered missing from the GDF Camp Ayanganna headquarters in Georgetown, Collins further declared that “any attempts to use those weapons will be immediately crushed.”

He said two of the desired results of the intensive Joint Services operations under way between the GDF and the Police Force are to ensure that the missing weapons “remain useless” and to “search and recover” the weapons.

“I can let you know that there are two desired outcomes we expect as we prosecute our operations - one is that we ensure that those weapons remain useless (while) the other aspect is to search and recover those weapons,” Collins said.

“The potential” of the missing high-powered weapons is the “most critical and crucial aspects” of the loss in that the guns can bring harm to the people of Guyana and are a “dent” to national security, Collins posited.

“At the moment we are successful in having (the potential of) those weapons reduced because for the past six weeks there has hardly been any incident where AK-47s were sighted or used and so we are keeping our efforts and our focus on ensuring that those weapons remain as useless as they are now, until we recover them,” he said.

“No place in Guyana is out of bounds and no one is an untouchable so everywhere and anywhere we have information we will follow it in our efforts to recover the missing weapons.” The Collins briefing yesterday came as reporters surrounded him shortly after the formal opening of the annual Police Officers’ Conference at Eve Leary, Georgetown.

He also disclosed that based on a “more thorough investigation” recently conducted by the Army, it was discovered that 30 AK-47 assault rifles are missing, instead of the initial report of 33 AK-47s stolen more than a month ago. These are in addition to the five pistols that also disappeared from the GDF storage bond in Camp Ayanganna.

Collins attributed this to a “duplication of the serial numbers” of the missing weapons. “Our duty, our resolve is to have those weapons recovered and returned to our arms store and ensure that the confidence of the people is restored, their safety is assured and national security is back to the point where it was before the disappearance of the weapons,” he said.

“Our analysis has revealed that the weapons can be used either for criminal purpose or for economic gain or it can be used for sinister motives… (but) the more crucial and the more dangerous option to national security pertains to movement (of the weapons) and our intense operations, as we work along with the Police, are to ensure those weapons do not move around.”

“…even if they fall in the (wrong) hands we must be able, by our own efforts and our own operations to crush such a movement in its embryo stage”, Collins stressed.

AWAITING DNA RESULTS

Collins also reported that the Army was awaiting the DNA results from samples taken to the United States for testing by officers from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) which is assisting in the investigations.

“As soon as we discovered those weapons were stolen from us and having recognised our own inability and our own shortage in resources in recovering those weapons, we sought help in recovering those weapons. We sought help from those people who are our bilateral friends in foreign countries and also help from our neighbouring countries as well”, he noted.

“We have briefed the Surinamese, the Venezuelans, the Brazilians and we have had the FBI come in very, very quickly through the Military Liaison Officer (attached to the U.S. Embassy in Georgetown) and who has always been in constant contact with the GDF and they have given us some very encouraging support,” the Army Chief of Staff said.

“We are now awaiting the DNA results and also awaiting some other resources that had been promised to help us…” He said the last audit of the weapons of the GDF was done since 2001 and when questioned, Collins did not deny the possibility that the guns could have been missing since then. He also lamented that the weapons were spirited out of the GDF headquarters base which highlighted the “inner aspects of that loss”.

“You must be aware that the loss is not a break and entry from external forces as such; it was more an internal collusion with other members of the wider society and unless we can sort that problem where our inner security has been breached by soldiers and officers who are bent on not supporting the interest of security, until we can solve that - we will continue to have that problem,” Collins posited.

He said the Army is working feverishly towards ensuring that the “inner access of our security is restored.”

15 ARMY RANKS DETAINED

Asked how many Army ranks are in custody or in confinement assisting in the investigation, Collins responded: “The number started off with five; we are now about fifteen and it’s growing as the investigations continue.” He also disclosed that two other ranks of the Army have been sent on leave recently after a drug related offence.

He also said there was no need to have daily or frequent checks of the missing weapons simply because they were stored at the GDF Camp Ayanganna headquarters which is “not a daily use storage”. This, he said, differs from “the daily use storage” which is checked on daily, heightening the detection of any irregularity.

In addition, Collins dismissed the theory of negligence as being the possible cause for the disappearance of the weapons saying “those weapons were not meant to be checked” because “they were locked weapons” that were in the storage bond since the 1980s.

“There was no need to check these weapons on a regular basis because the custodians of these weapons – the officers or ranks responsible for ensuring their security – those are the ones we feel are compromised and those are the ones we have holding and are investigating,” Collins declared.

“So, we have here a case where the breach of security has more to do with the personalities who were responsible; somewhere along the line they became compromised and they succumbed to the offer – whatever that offer was – and that is why we are in this situation; but we are making efforts all the time and we are continuing in our quest and our pursuit to have those weapons recovered and those (corrupt ones) who are still among us, to have them ferreted out,” he told reporters.

Collins also admitted that as the head of the Army, he felt embarrassed at the disappearance of the weapons. “At first I felt very embarrassed; anyone in a similar situation would have felt embarrassed and I empathised with the calls that were made initially by some Guyanese people for my resignation. That was a justifiable call...I had no issue with that.”

Collins, however, told reporters he has since recovered from that initial embarrassment and has been channelling all efforts in recovering those weapons. He also lauded the level of cohesion exhibited by ranks of the GDF and the GPF during their joint operations saying this “is very good for national security”.

“Initially, when the weapons were lost it was the GDF’s responsibility to ensure that those weapons were recovered and to say to the public our feelings, programmes and plans for recovering those weapons; and then as the Joint Services took the lead in the operations, we decided that the Joint Services working together will ensure that (the weapons are recovered),” Collins asserted.

He admitted that over the past few days there had been “a bit of a slowdown or a pause” in the intensive search for the missing weapons. He, however, assured that the initial intensity of the search and the momentum will soon return. Asked to comment on the possible delaying factors hindering the recovery of the weapons, Collins said: “The delay in finding the weapons hinges on the fact that we do not have exact information…”

News that the AK-47 rifles and five pistols were stolen from the GDF base raised fears that the automatic weapons may have been sold to criminal gangs, including those holed out in the back lands in Buxton, known to use AK-47s in attacks. The guns are believed to have been spirited out of the storage bond through ventilation mesh cut close to the top of the building, Army officials have said. (Mark Ramotar/Guyana Cronicle)

POLICE Commissioner Winston Felix yesterday held his ground against pressure he has been under since a widely publicised tape recording and warned that the Police Force would take the fight to drug lords and criminals.

He also announced that the Police were prepared for the major challenges posed by the upcoming general elections and appealed to contesting political parties to play by the rules.

At the opening of the annual Police Officers conference at Police headquarters in Georgetown, Felix stayed clear of the media exposure of the tape recording of a purported controversial conversation between him and People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) Vice Chairman and lawyer Basil Williams.

He said he will “deliberately avoid addressing the recent scuttlebutt” for two reasons. “First, to do so would be to fall into the trap of having our official agenda to maintain peace and security derailed by various ruses and schemes and consequently we would lose focus and resolve.”

“And second, I am pleased that the doggedness of the Force to combat burgeoning crime and public lawlessness, is causing such discomfort among lawless individuals and groups, that they resort to desperate diversions; many not particularly creative nor effective,” the Police Commissioner asserted.

“The Joint Services action against crime – specifically drug trafficking, money laundering, weapons possession and terror - is aimed at ensuring that management of the State remains in the hands of the State and democratic institutions where it belongs, rather than in the hands of drug lords and cartels where it is sure to go if left unchecked,” Felix declared.

On the issue of the management of ‘occupational hazards’, Felix posited: “Indeed, in the context of the battle against drugs and organised crime, the Guyana Police Force has attained the dubious distinction as being the Force in the Caribbean Community either police or military, with the most experience of executing their duties under heavy and sustained gunfire.”

“Our personnel are becoming battle-seasoned (and) as a result, our intervention and containment skills are sharp, as is our resolve,” he added. Felix said this undoubtedly takes a toll on the officers, which interestingly – is more physical than on their morale and commitment.

Cognizant of this, he said the Force is putting in place “psychological counselling” as part of the arsenal of readiness for what could be a long campaign, given the apparent conviction on the part of the criminal elements of their right to public lawlessness and to attendant publicity.

Felix also outlined the Force’s preparation for the other “major challenges” that lie ahead, among these being the upcoming general elections and Guyana’s hosting of Cricket World Cup 2007. With regards to the upcoming general elections, Felix noted that there is likely to be a rise in the “temperature and vitriol in public exchanges”.

Noting that the time of general elections is always one of high alert and mobilisation for the Police Force, he pointed out that “political intolerance and intemperate exchanges by political parties” could make the task of the Police of maintaining law and order much more difficult.

In this regard, the Police Commissioner appealed to all political parties in Guyana to observe the civil norms of campaigning displayed by other member states of the Caribbean Community and the wider community of democratic nations.

“The force will view very seriously, deliberate acts of threat or intimidation, by those purporting to represent political postures, which may cause anxiety or fear among Guyana’s citizens, legal residents and visitors,” the Police Commissioner declared.

The annual three-day Police Officers’ Conference got under way yesterday but noticeably absent from the traditional opening ceremony at the Police Officers’ Mess at Eve Leary was Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, President Bharrat Jagdeo.

Home Affairs Minister, Ms Gail Teixeira apologised for the absence of the President, saying he was unable to attend the opening ceremony but told the large gathering Mr. Jagdeo will be making an appearance at the conference before its conclusion tomorrow night.

In the absence of the President, Teixeira inspected the traditional Police Guard of Honour which immediately preceded the opening, and delivered the feature address at the conference. The annual Police conference traditionally provides an opportunity for frank analyses of the past year and the planning by the Force for the year ahead.

Teixeira, in her lengthy and comprehensive address, alluded to the huge sums of money allocated to the Police Force over the years, and more specifically over the past two years, by the government. “In the last two years, 2004 and 2005, the Police have benefited from almost G$1B supplementary provision for buildings, land and office equipment, training materials, forensic investigative equipment (et cetera),” she said.

The minister hastened to point out that none of this money was from any grant or loan from international financial agencies and or overseas financial assistance. She also noted that over the same period – 2004 and 2005 – the entire budget of the Guyana Police Force reached the level of about $7B.

Teixeira also reiterated the government’s commitment to ensuring that it makes provisions aimed at ensuring that the Police Force can better carry out its job with better resources. “We want to ensure that the Police throughout Guyana are better resourced and equipped to manage many of the challenges they face in crime,” she told the gathering. She also chided the media, saying its role sometimes helps to intensify fear in society rather than enhance confidence.

Minister Teixeira also lamented the continued occupation of the violence prone and volatile East Coast Demerara village of Buxton by a group of criminals led by what she described as “psychopathic killers” who continue to make people uneasy and fearful. She also alluded to the missing high-powered weapons from the Army which serves to further undermine the confidence in the security forces of Guyana. According to the minister, the disappearance of the weapons at this time points to sinister and/or political motives.

She lauded the current joint operations between members of the Police Force and the Guyana Defence Force which she said serve to create a lot of confidence in the maintenance of law and order. And in alluding to the many challenges facing the Police Force, she referred to cases brought in court against the Police Force.

“The recent events in the courts do not help to give confidence to the general public nor (do they) help the morale of the Guyana Police Force,” Teixeira said to loud applause from members of the force. “And I fear that in this pre-elections season that the court may become agony for challenging the very foundations of the legitimacy of the force of law and order in Guyana,” Teixeira said to another round of applause.

“We all have to sing from the same bible or the same songbook if we want to reduce the level of crime in our society; we all have to have a low or a zero tolerance of those criminals in our society who wish to undermine our stability and peace,” she asserted. “So when people are found with guns and weapons and cocaine and certain types of apparatus, we have to treat with them seriously but I repeat, the Police cannot do so alone,” the minister defended.

Felix, in his report at the conference, thanked the government for its collaborative and supportive relationship with the Guyana Police Force during the past year and for “keeping” and in some cases “exceeding” the promise made to it a year ago.

“It hardly seems a year since we last met here for the 2005 Annual Conference. Yet here we are again, having met or drawn closer to, many of our targets identified a year ago, but facing newer and greater challenges such as brazenness and impunity among the facilitators of the international drug trade, and an increase in internecine warfare among criminal factions,” Felix told members of the Force.

Reflecting on the year under review, Felix pointed out that while the Force experienced a reduction in crimes such as house-breaking, burglary and larceny from the person, there has been an increase in gun-related crimes, such as robbery under arms. “Indeed for 2006, we note with concern the resurgence of execution-type murders in which guns were used,” the Police Commissioner said.

Even though dedicated pursuit and solid intelligence have led to the recovery of 145 illegal firearms in 2005, he said licensed firearm holders relinquished their weapons either under duress during robberies or through carelessness thus aggravating an already grave situation in relation to firearms and their potential use for criminal intent.

Routinely, he noted that the licence granted to a citizen is revoked when that person loses the firearm, and the detailed investigations are carried out to ascertain the degree of negligence or complicity on the part of the licensee. Regardless of the findings, it is not the policy of the police to approve the further holding of a firearm licence by one who has relinquished or misled the weapon, as each licensed firearm lost, represents a gain for the criminal elements in society, he said.

Since the last conference a year ago, Felix pointed out that President Jagdeo has “demonstrated his continuing support” for the work of the Police Force and one of the more tangible expressions of this was his confirmation of Teixeira as Home Affairs Minister. He described Minister Teixeira as “a proven professional” and said she always tries to give 100% in carrying out her portfolio responsibilities and duties.

Felix was also of the view that the past year has seen a growth in police confidence in dealing with the public as well as with serious crimes. “Our intelligence capacity and output have grown to a stage where the Force can now pinpoint activities and pre-empt, in instances which never see the light of day or the glare of publicity,” he told the gathering.

It is perhaps this growth in confidence which leads to the sporadic verbal attacks on the police in relation to timeliness and speed of response to crime in progress, the Police Commissioner charged. On this issue, he made several points in the context of “operation reality”. One of the points was that Police response must not only be rapid but strategic. “It is foolhardy and unprofessional to drive or run into the line of fire, in order to satisfy a flawed perception of ‘rapid response’,” Commissioner Felix argued.

Notwithstanding a welcome and much appreciated increase in the number of vehicles over the past two years, Felix also pointed out that transport assets remain a challenge. “The new type of violent crime and rapid escape, make the case for additional assets such as helicopters and air boats,” Felix posited.

UPGRADE OF CANINE CAPABILITY

Felix said a vital element of Police response to a crime scene is its ‘canine capability’ which will soon be enhanced with the upgrade of the stock of dogs and training for handlers. Teixeira had noted that the financing for this upgrade of the Police canine capability has already been made available by the government.

With regards to anti-drug control, Felix alluded to the fact that Guyana, as a member of the global family of democratic nations is committed to stemming the tide of crime related to the international narcotics trade. He and Teixeira alluded to the National Drug Control Strategy which the government launched last year and which provides a roadmap for the medium to long term anti-drug fight.

Felix also told the conference that the Police Force’s technical resources for detection of illicit drugs in transit, have improved tremendously. “Through continuous and growing collaboration with other law enforcement agencies, significant finds of drugs have been made; many concealed in products for export such as lumber, fish, molasses and even condiments.”

He noted that the implications of these drug ‘finds’ for the economy and image of Guyana in the international arena, are quite distressing. “We of the law enforcement fraternity in Guyana look forward with great anticipation, to the enactment of key legislation which would empower the state to confiscate the proceeds of the illicit drug trade and money laundering legislation which is proving increasingly effective in many jurisdictions in the fight against this scourge,” the Police Commissioner urged.

Among those at the opening were ministers and high-ranking officials of the government, an executive member of the main political opposition party, members of the Diplomatic Corps, the judiciary and senior members of the Joint Services comprising the Army, Police, Fire Service and Prison.(Mark Ramotar/Guyana Cronicle)

Top cops challenge contempt motion

Confusion reigned at the High Court yesterday when leading counsel Nigel Hughes, for the applicant Ricardo Rodrigues, pushing a contempt of court motion against Commissioner of Police Winston Felix and his Deputy Henry Greene, withdrew from the case because of a disagreement with his client.

In the presence of the two top cops, Hughes reported that the disagreement came about after his client turned down his suggestion that since the house at 24 Bel Air Gardens in Georgetown had been vacated by officers of the Police Force , the motion should be withdrawn. His client wanted the motion to continue.

As a consequence, Hughes asked the court for leave to withdraw, pointing out that his colleague, Mr. Glenn Hanoman, would succeed him in the matter. Felix and Greene were in court for flouting an order made by Justice William Ramlal on March 30 to vacate the premises at Bel Air.

Hanoman told the court yesterday that the motion for contempt will continue since the alleged contempt, the result of the flouting of an order of the court, had already been committed. Felix and Greene appeared in answer to a nisi order and a request by the motion for the court to have them imprisoned for contempt of court for flouting the judge’s order.

Appearing for the two men were Attorney General, Mr. Doodnauth Singh, S.C. and Mr. Nigel Hawke of the Attorney General’s Chambers. After Hanoman insisted that the motion goes through despite the assurance that the house had been vacated, the Attorney General sought leave to file an affidavit in answer, and requested seven days within which to do so.

The judge granted three days for the filing of the affidavit which would seek to prove that there is no case against the police officers. Justice Ramlal last week issued the order calling on members of the Police Force and the Army to remove from the house where they had set up a military camp. The contempt of court claim was made by Rodrigues, accusing the Police chief of allowing members of the Police and the Army to continue residing at the house.

An affidavit in support of the motion by Mario Rodrigues, father of the plaintiff, had complained about the presence of strangers at his son’s home where there is a military camp and had asked the court for a conservatory order directing the Commissioner of Police, the Chief of Staff of the Guyana Defence Force and the Head of the Defence Board from occupying and or attempting to occupy the property, and from destroying or attempting to destroy the property.

The Army and Police said they have searched several houses in and around Georgetown in the probe into the 33 AK-47 rifles and five pistols stolen from the Army Camp Ayanganna headquarters in Georgetown. (Guyana Cronicle)

Three men are in police custody over the slaying of a William Street, Kitty taxi driver who was shot several times on Saturday morning in 'B' Field, Sophia.

Two of the three men are also said to be the ones who later that morning shot Lucius Prescott in his neck while robbing his D'Urban Street Link Bar. Police late Monday evening hauled in the trio. The men were grilled yesterday and will be put on an identification parade.

Stabroek News was told that Desmond Bentick, the taxi driver, was hired by two of the four men to be taken to Sophia. When he got there he encountered the other two men and they stuck him up and proceeded to rob him. Relatives said Bentick was found minus his shoes and a pair of diamond-studded earrings. He had no money on him and relatives are convinced that Bentick would have had money.

Sources told this newspaper that based upon reports, Bentick knew his killers. According to information reaching this newspaper, Bentick was hired somewhere in the vicinity of Demico House. The source said that the gunmen might have had a motive other than robbery for killing the man, given the manner of his execution. Bentick's mother had told this newspaper that a man at the Demico taxi car park had recently threatened to kill her son. It is not clear why the threats were made.

Margaret Andrews, the dead man's mother, had also hinted to this newspaper on Monday that envy might have led to his death. She however did not rule out the possibility of him being a target of bandits. The car Bentick was driving, a grey PJJ 3974, is the property of a friend. The killers, after robbing him of his earrings and other valuables, bundled him out of the vehicle and commanded him to run. It was while running they shot him several times and drove away.

Stabroek News was told yesterday that police are looking into the possibility that the same men who killed Bentick carried out the attack on the Link Bar. Bentick was killed some time after 3 am on Saturday but his body was only found around 5:30 am.

Shortly after 4 am, Prescott, owner of the Link Bar and his employees were preparing to close up the business when four men, three of whom had handkerchiefs tied around their faces, entered. The bandits then ordered everyone to lie on the floor and menaced Prescott, demanding money. One of the bandits then ran through Prescott's pockets and found an ID card. The bandit then declared "he is a police, shoot he."

Prescott was shot in his neck and up to press time was still a patient at a city hospital. His relatives said that the bullet is still lodged in his neck. Eyewitnesses said the bandits after shooting Prescott stuffed their loot into a bag and robbed several patrons before escaping in a car. Bentick's car was found the next day on the West Ruimveldt front road. The vehicle was dusted for fingerprints and is currently at the East La Penitence Police Station.

The execution of Bentick raises the question as to whether a killing squad is at work again. The last four executions have occurred on Saturday mornings. Two years ago a number of men disappeared and later turned up dead. Several of them, with past criminal convictions were tortured before taking several bullets about their bodies.

Two of the four recently executed had criminal records. Devon Cambridge who was found dead with his hands bound behind his back was before the court on a charge of attempted armed robbery.

Cambridge was also accused of playing a part in the February 26 slaughter of eight people at Agricola and Eccles on the East Bank of Demerara. A rival gang, mainly controlled by drug dealers was said to have carried out his execution as revenge for the Agricola massacre.

Two Saturdays ago Alvin Budhram, an ex-policeman who was also a security guard attached to the Professional Guard Service, was found dead on Garnett Street, Campbellville. Residents said they heard gunshots earlier that morning, but it is still unclear whether the man was taken to the spot and killed or was in the area. Budhram was in court for a traffic matter in Essequibo.

One hour later, George Anthony called `Goat Man' of Tiger Bay was executed in Jamoon Drive Meadowbrook. His body was fished out of a trench four hours later. An eyewitness had told this newspaper that gunshots rang out in the area around 4 am on Saturday.

The eyewitness said when he looked out of his window he saw three men dragging Anthony's body towards the koker in Jamoon Drive. The witness said that when the three men reached the koker they started to beat Anthony with what looked like a crowbar.

From all indications, Anthony was beaten in the face and his head and then kicked overboard. His killers escaped in a car. Anthony, according to a source, was into 'bad business' although it is not clear whether he had any criminal convictions. (Stabroek News)

Army takeover of house

Felix, deputy named in contempt proceedings

Police Commissioner Winston Felix and his Deputy Henry Greene are expected in court this afternoon to show why they should not be committed to prison for contempt of court. This follows their ignoring an order issued by High Court Judge William Ramlal last Friday calling on members of the Police Force and the Army to remove from a house at 24 Bel Air Gardens in the city where they had set up a military camp.

The contempt of court claim was made by Ricardo Rodrigues, accusing the Police chief of allowing members of the Police and the Army to continue residing at the house.

When the application requesting contempt proceedings came up for hearing yesterday in open court, lawyer Nigel Hughes, for the applicant, read a letter from Deputy Commissioner Greene which said that the Police are prepared to hand over the building to the owner or to any other person properly identified, and lawfully authorised in writing.

In response to the letter from the Deputy Commissioner, Mr. Hughes, in a letter, had said in part, “We are of the opinion that the Order of Court is particularly clear in import. We also wish to refer you to the contents of paragraphs 4, 5 and 6 of the plaintiff’s affidavit which clearly indicate that the property was in the possession of the contractors, who were effecting civil works thereto, at the time of the arrival of and occupation by your officers.

“We have been informed by the contractors that the civil works are incomplete and they are keen to honour their contractual obligations to the plaintiff without incurring further penalty. “Regrettably, the continued occupation of the plaintiff’s premises after the service of the order on you has placed the plaintiff’s contractors in considerable danger of incurring further penalties under their agreement with the plaintiff.

“We have noted your concern for the protection and preservation of our client’s property, but we believe that the further violation of a court order may place the Guyana Police Force in a position of some considerable embarrassment while at the same time exposing the Commissioner to penalties for contempt of the aforementioned order. A prospect we would all rather avoid. We look forward to the immediate vacation of the premises by your officers. Yours faithfully, Hughes, Fields & Stoby. C. A. Nigel Hughes.” (Guyana Cronicle)

Outcry: Police officers try to control an angry mob outside the Couva Magistrates' Court yesterday. (Photos courtesy Newsday)

Appearing for Luke's murder were a 16-year-old lad of Orange Valley, Waterloo and a 13-year-old boy of Lady Young Road, Morvant. The expressions of outrage from the mob who gathered from as early as 07:30 h yesterday, climaxed into abuses and obscenities hurled at police officers who shielded the faces of the teens. There were shouts of "Stone them!", "Kill them!", "Big jail for big man crime!" and "What all yuh hiding them for? Bring them out....we go deal with them!" from the crowd of some 400 people.

Sean Luke's body was found on March 28 under a patch of grass in a cane field 200 feet away from his home at Henry Street (West), Orange Valley. The six-year-old boy had bled to death after his internal organs were ruptured after he was sodomised with a cane stalk. Luke's mother, Pauline, did not turn up in court yesterday for the appearance of the two teenagers accused.

Pauline's sister - Marilyn - said Sean's mother was under medication and stayed home to rest. "She didn't think she could take it", Marilyn said.

Magistrate Marcia Caesar-Ayers heard the matter in a juvenile court in which the accused boys, their relatives and the relatives of the victim, attorneys and police officers, were present. An official from the National Family Services was also there for the hearing.

Luke's grandmother, Golsin Moonie, the child's step-sister Lynne Lum Fai, his aunt Marilyn, and cousin Surendra, were also allowed to stay in the courtroom.

The 16-year-old stood before the court with his mother and stepfather at his side. The other boy’s aunt and attorney Darryl Giles appeared on his behalf.

Giles said he appeared as a "friend of the court", explaining that the boy’s mother requested by telephone, that he represent the family. Giles told Magistrate Caesar-Ayers that the two accused teens were seeking legal aid to represent them in the matter.

The hearing before the magistrate took less than five minutes. Around 10:20 h, Magistrate Caesar-Ayers read the charge which alleged that between March 26 and March 28 last, the two murdered the boy at Orange Valley. They were not called upon to enter a plea to the charges which on Saturday, were laid indictably by Ag Cpl Alexis Garcia.

It is expected that the prosecution will call a 16-year-old boy of Orange Valley as a witness in the preliminary inquiry. After the hearing, attorney Giles told the media that he spoke to both accused and explained the charges and the court procedures. "They are scared and showing signs of remorse", Giles said. "Especially (the younger lad) who is talking about wanting to go to church and school", he said.

Outside the courtroom, Marilyn broke down in tears as she recalled seeing the older accused singing and bobbing his head while waiting for the case to be called. The other kept his head down for most of his time in court, looking up only occasionally to the magistrate. The magistrate postponed the case to April 12, with the accused teens remanded to the Youth Training Centre.

Giles said that after the hearing, the two accused teens were taken to the Couva Police Station to speak to a psychiatrist before being taken to the YTC. (Guyana Cronicle)

Army believes:

Stolen AK-47s `locked down’

THE 33 AK-47 assault rifles and five pistols that shockingly disappeared from the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) armoury about a month ago are believed to be tightly locked down somewhere and not being moved around, spokesman Lt Col Claude Fraser said yesterday.

“We are still very optimistic about finding the weapons. We are pretty sure that the guns are not being moved around but that they are locked down somewhere and we have every intention of vigorously pursuing any and every (bit of) information that can lead us to these weapons,” he told the Guyana Chronicle.

Fraser indicated that although the high-powered weapons have not been found a month after they were reported stolen, the joint operations and searches by the Army and the Guyana Police Force for the missing guns have not diminished in any way. He assured that the intensity and all-encompassing spread of the search for the weapons will continue until these are found.

Fraser also noted that a number of places and areas have so far been combed during the continuous and relentless searches for the guns which were found missing after a check of the armoury at GDF Camp Ayanganna headquarters in Georgetown.

Asked whether the military-type operation by heavily armed soldiers and police on a section of the bustling Water Street, Georgetown shopping district Saturday morning was part of the continuous search for the missing weapons, Fraser responded: “All the operations that we have conducted so far with the Police (since the weapons disappeared) have been for the missing weapons”.

The search in Georgetown Saturday morning covered the Swiss House Cambio. Previous Joint Services operations included raids on several popular city nightspots, including the Blue Iguana nightclub, Club Avalanche and Buddy’s. Fraser yesterday also reported that the six soldiers confined and interrogated at the GDF base since the guns were found missing, were still confined to Camp Ayanganna up to yesterday.

“They are still confined to Ayanganna but they are allowed to see their relatives and are given all privileges such as telephone calls, et cetera,” he said. He also noted that numerous “bits and pieces” of information have been received by the army and these have been pursued.

Shortly after the shocking disappearance of the weapons, Army Chief of Staff, Brigadier Edward Collins said “any bit of information and lead would be pursued relentlessly and vigorously in order to retrieve the weapons and have them returned to the storage bond”.

The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is assisting the Army team of investigators. Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, President Bharrat Jagdeo has also vowed that “whatever it takes”, the Army will go out and recover the weapons.

“The Army will go out and recover those weapons, whatever it takes. They will have to recover those weapons and I hope when they go into some areas that we are not going to hear the talk about excessive force and freedom and all of these things,” President Jagdeo stressed. (Mark Ramotar/Guyana Cronicle)

Police arrest suspects in Bush Lot robbery

Four gunmen Saturday robbed businessman Ramchandar Singh of $226, 490 in cash at Bush Lot, West Coast Berbice. Two of the suspects entered his general store and held his wife at gunpoint, wife while the others stood watch outside.

Police were able to apprehend the suspects in a shoot-out. The suspects were arrested and are in police custody.

Two Taurus .765 mm pistols containing 12 matching rounds, an empty magazine and the stolen money were all recovered from the suspects. Investigations are continuing and charges will be laid shortly. (Guyana Cronicle)

Police Force to employ 'Crime Stoppers' programme

Royal Canadian Mounted Police representative to arrive shortly

The home Affairs Ministry is to receive a significant boost in its efforts to tackle crime with the coming within two weeks of a Royal Canadian Mounted Police representative to advise on the setting up of a ‘Crime Stoppers’ programme.

This was revealed Saturday by Minister of Home Affairs Gail Teixeira during her address at the annual general meeting of Divisions ‘E’ and ‘F’ community policing group executives at the LINMINE Constabulary Recreation Hall, Linden, Region 10 (Upper Demerara/ Upper Berbice).

The Home Affairs Minister said programmes such as the Crime Stoppers initiative is part of a series of activities being undertaken by the Ministry to boost the capabilities of the criminal justice system. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police launched its Crime Stoppers programme in the eighties, and it has proven successful.

As for other crime fighting initiatives, Minister Teixeira also referred to the establishment of the National Commission on Law and Order which is directly answerable to Head of State, President Bharrat Jagdeo, and government’s National Drug Strategy Master Plan launched in June last year.

The programme entails the establishment of a 1-800 toll free number which persons can use to anonymously report information regarding criminal activities. The callers’ identity will remain unknown and depending on the level of action taken by the police and the judiciary, a reward will be given. This will be transferred to a bank account number provided by the person who supplied the information.

Speaking to members of the community policing groups throughout the division, the Minister said, “The security of our borders is becoming more of an issue, as a significant percent of arms and illicit drugs pass through these areas.” She noted that the recent attacks on mining camps in Region Seven are testimony to this.

Commander of Divisions E and F Krishna Lakeraj indicated that community involvement remains an integral part of law enforcement. “The police cannot tackle crime alone…we need a network of collaboration and understanding between the Guyana Police Force and the public if efforts to tackle crime are to be successful.”

Minister Teixeira said that the Ministry’s budgetary allocation will enable the procurement of additional equipment necessary to bolster the GPF and community policing groups. “We are looking at the procurement of more All Terrain Vehicles (ATVs), boats and outboard engines to patrol our borders,” she explained.

The Minister told the gathering that the concept of the Neighbourhood Police which has been launched in Divisions ‘G’ and ‘B’ will accommodate persons who wish to participate in crime fighting but are not inclined to leave their communities. The Minister’s visit to Linden is part of a series of activities undertaken over the last several weeks to boost the morale and capabilities of community policing groups countywide.(GINA)(Guyana Cronicle)

RAID: soldiers deployed in the military-type operation on the busy Water Street shopping area in Georgetown yesterday morning. (Cullen Bess-Nelson photo)

HEAVILY-ARMED soldiers and police swooped on a section of the bustling Water Street, Georgetown shopping district yesterday morning, sealing it off for a search in a military-type operation.

There was no official statement on the precision operation during which security personnel searched the Swiss House Cambio on Water Street as helmeted soldiers and police in battle gear took up strategic positions, guns at the ready.

Huge military trucks were positioned to block off the street as the troops moved in to cordon off the area for the search. Police in a statement said they conducted early morning raids in several other areas within the city but did not mention the major Water Street operation. Police said areas targeted in those searches were Campbellville Housing Scheme, Kitty, Sophia and Middle Road, La Penitence.

Ten houses were searched in those raids and 11 persons, including a female, were held on an arrest warrant for simple larceny, robbery under arms and other offences, police reported. They said three suitcases with clothing and other items, a television set, a 40 HP Yamaha outboard engine and a red and black motorcycle suspected to have been stolen or unlawfully obtained, were seized.

In the absence of any official word on the major Joint Services operation that targeted Swiss House Cambio, there was speculation that it was related to the search by the Joint Services for the 33 high-powered AK-47 rifles and five pistols reported stolen more than a month ago from a storage bond in the Guyana Defence Forces (GDF) Camp Ayanganna headquarters in Georgetown.

In an operation launched two weeks ago in and around the city, the Joint Services targeted the Blue Iguana nightclub and two other popular city nightspots, among other places.

The Joint Services had said that that operation, stretched over four days, would continue in an effort to recover the AK-47s and pistols. None of the missing guns were found in that exercise and it was not known if any was found in yesterday’s major operation.

The joint Police and GDF release last month reported that they set up checkpoints along the lower East Coast Demerara and Georgetown and conducted roadblocks and cordon and search operations aimed at apprehending criminals and seizing illegal firearms and ammunition.

Several persons were charged after that operation for illegal possession of arms and ammunition and other offences and Police last week issued a wanted bulletin for businessman Roger Khan and three others saying they were “wanted for questioning” in connection with arms, ammunition, drugs and other illegal items found in that exercise. (See other story on page one).

The Police and Army had also reported detaining more than 175 motor vehicles, many of them heavily tinted and some with questionable documents.

On March 19, GDF troops and policemen swooped on all of Khan’s known businesses in Georgetown – DreamWorks Housing Development in Garnett Street; the Reef Club at 60, Station Street, Kitty, and the Master’s Touch Carpet Cleaners at 2nd Street, Bel Air Village. They also searched his private residence in Rotunda Place, D’Aguiar’s Park, on the southern fringes of Georgetown and deployed a team to Kaow Island in the Essequibo River, where he also owns a sawmilling operation.

Cordon and searches were also conducted at the popular Buddy’s Night Club in Sheriff Street, where a “motor vehicle of interest” to the security forces was seized; the also popular Avalanche Night Club in Sheriff Street; a house at U Grove Housing Scheme, East Bank Demerara, where one male was arrested and a quantity of military uniforms seized; and La Chalet Country Club in Soesdyke, where one male was arrested.

The Joint Services last month said they will conduct several follow-up operations and reiterated the determination to recover the weapons stolen from the Army. Soldiers and police last week searched a house in the posh Bel Air Gardens in Georgetown where diplomats and others live but there was no official statement on the nature of that operation.

“All information will continue to be treated with the strictest of confidence and no individual or area is off limits,” the Joint Services stressed last month. (Guyana Cronicle)

Judge asks Felix to justify wanted bulletin

Lawyers say clients fear for their lives

HIGH Court Judge William Ramlal yesterday ordered Police Commissioner Winston Felix to justify the wanted bulletin the Police Force last week issued for businessman Roger Khan and three others after their lawyers challenged the legality of the Police declaring them wanted men.

The lawyers argued that as long as a person is wanted, “it must necessarily mean that the Police have sufficient evidence to charge” but said that in the case of Khan and the others, the Police have not done so.

“The fact that the GPF (Guyana Police Force) has not taken the lawful steps to have warrants of arrest legally issued, has caused the applicants to conclude that the GPF wants the applicants to meet the fate of recently wanted men, that is, being dead”, they submitted.

The Police last week issued a wanted bulletin for Khan and the others, with their photographs, saying they were “wanted for questioning” in connection with investigations into the discovery of firearms, ammunition, drugs and other illegal items found during the Joint Services operation conducted two Sundays ago.

The Joint Services said the four-day operation was part of the search for 33 high-powered AK-47 rifles and five pistols reported stolen from the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Camp Ayanganna headquarters in Georgetown. None of the stolen guns were found in the widespread raids which appeared to be continuing in Georgetown yesterday when heavily-armed soldiers and Police cordoned off a section of Water Street and searched the Swiss House Cambio business place.

Lawyers for the four men named in the bulletin argued that the Police cannot issue wanted bulletins for questioning people and said if the Police have evidence to charge, they should do so.

Justice Ramlal yesterday granted a Nisi Order directed to Commissioner Felix ordering him to show why a Writ of Certiorari should not be issued quashing his decision to issue the wanted bulletin for applicants Roger Khan, Ricardo Rodrigues, Paul Rodrigues and Gerald Pereira. The judge’s order followed an application by the applicants for Writs of Certiorari and Mandamus.

The ex parte application, which was heard in open court, began with Mr Vic Puran, associated with other lawyers Mr Glenn Hanoman and Miss Mishka Puran, submitting that no narcotics had been found in the properties in which the applicants had control. Mr Puran also submitted that the newspaper advertisement as set out in the wanted bulletin by the Police gave the impression that the applicants were criminals who were wanted dead or alive.

Reacting to this submission, the judge suggested that the applicants, though not the owners of the premises might have been conspirators, but Puran said there was no suggestion to infer that the applicants were acting in concert with anyone. He contended that the action by Felix was unlawful and asked that the decision be quashed and that the advertisement be withdrawn.

After hearing the arguments put forward by Mr Puran, the judge declared: “It is ordered that an Order Nisi of Certiorari be issued directed to Winston Felix, in his capacity as the Commissioner of Police, Guyana Police Force to show cause why a Writ of Certiorari should not be issued quashing the decision of Winston Felix, in his capacity as the Commissioner of Police, to issue a wanted bulletin for the applicants dated 29th day of March, 2006, on the ground that his decision is unconstitutional and/or in excess of jurisdiction.

“And it is further ordered that an Order or Rule Nisi of Mandamus be issued directed to the Commissioner to show cause why a Writ of Mandamus should not be issued compelling Mr Winston Felix, in his capacity as the Commissioner of Police, Guyana, to withdraw the wanted bulletin hereto exhibited and marked “ExA” issued on the 29th day of March, 2006 against the Applicants.

“And it is further ordered that a sealed and certified copy of the Motion with the Affidavit in Support together with a sealed and certified copy of the Order Nisi of Certiorari and the Order Nisi of Mandamus be served on Mr. Winston Felix.” The matter was adjourned to April 10 before the same judge.

Yesterday, service of the writ was effected by a Marshal of the Supreme Court on the Commissioner of Police. A copy of the writ will be served on the Attorney General tomorrow. The Commissioner and the Attorney General are named respondents in the matter. In an affidavit in support of the motion, Khan and the others say they are businessmen and have declined the invitation of the Police Force to go to any police station.

“We are advised by our attorneys that the concept of being wanted for questioning is for the Wild West and that the Commissioner of Police has no such power under the Police Act, Chapter 16:01 of the laws of Guyana to declare persons wanted for questioning”, they state.

The men claim the issuance of the wanted bulletin is a “blemish to our character and reputation” and “it is clear that the bulletin was not for the purpose of informing us because the bulletin indicated to members of the press that our photographs were available at the Police Media and Public Relations Office.” They add: “We are not involved in any of the illegal activities laid out in the said wanted bulletin.

“We are fearful that some enthusiastic member of the Guyana Police Force may seek to execute this wanted bulletin and would violate our legal rights and harm our persons in so doing. “We have been further advised by our Attorneys-at-law and do verily believe that the Guyana Police Force in the present circumstances has no power to arrest any of us for the stipulated offences set out in the wanted bulletin.”

In their submissions to the judge yesterday, the lawyers also noted that while the wanted bulletin included drugs, the word was not in the letter of response they received from Deputy Commissioner Henry Greene to one they wrote Felix questioning the legality of the move. “The insertion of drugs in the wanted bulletin questions the bona fides of the Commissioner of Police when he caused it to be made”, they charged.

In his letter, Greene said: “However, might I inform you that efforts to contact your clients in relation to arms and equipment found at premises hitherto fore occupied by them, have proven futile over the past two (2) weeks. Therefore your clients are wanted by the Police in relation to various investigations currently under way. If needs be they will be arrested.”

Puran told the Chronicle that he and Hanoman were addressing the issue on the merits of the Police bulletin, noting that while the bulletin had included [illegal] drugs, Greene’s letter included only arms and equipment. Greene’s letter stated that the men “seem to have formed conclusions for which they have no basis. Some of them were previously in Police custody and suffered no harm.”

This was most likely in response to the part of the lawyers’ initial correspondence which stated that the wanted men had no confidence in Felix and in the Force under him, and were fearful that their legal rights would be violated while in custody. Greene also issued a warning directed to Puran and Hanoman themselves that if they were aware of their clients’ whereabouts and failed to notify, or turn them over to, the law enforcement authorities, they may be “held accountable” for their conduct in that regard.

“May I again urge that you cooperate with the law enforcement authorities in this matter,” Greene stated. The Police on Wednesday evening put out a wanted bulletin for Khan, whose business places, in and around Georgetown, were raided in recent joint operations by the Police Force and the Guyana Defence Force.

Those named in the bulletin are Paul Rodrigues of 29 Dadanawa Street, Section ‘K’, Campbellville, Ricardo Rodrigues of Bel Air Springs, Shaheed Khan, also known as Roger Khan of 133 Rotunda Place, D’Aguiar’s Park, Houston, and Gerald Pereira of 86 Lamaha Springs, Georgetown. (George Barclay/Guyana Cronicle))

THE bullet-riddled body of 23-year-old taxi driver, Desmond Bentick, of Lot 64 William Street, Kitty, in Georgetown, was found in ‘B’ Field Sophia, near the ‘Blacka’, Greater Georgetown.

Reports are that that Bentick, who drove an AE 91 silver grey motor car, PJJ 3974, was hired by four men who forced him into Sophia where he was killed. The men fled with the vehicle. The police said about 05:30 h yesterday, Bentick was found dead with multiple gunshot wounds to his body.

In press release, the police asked anyone with information on Bentick’s death to make contact with the police on telephone numbers: - 225-6411, 226-6978, 225-8196, 225-6941, 227-2128, 226-1389 or 226-7065.

Mother of the slain man, Margaret Andrews, told the Sunday Chronicle that her son began driving the car a few months ago. The vehicle, she said, was owned by a friend called Otis. She said Bentick’s cellular phone and his wrist watch were missing when his body was discovered.

According to reports, after Bentick was shot about five times about the body, he walked some distance from the attack before he collapsed and died. The trail of blood was evident. When the Chronicle visited Bentick’s home yesterday his relatives were inconsolable and a group of mourners, including his friends had gathered. (Guyana Cronicle)