September 29, 2008
Cop
disciplined over Middleton St roadblock
Still no progress in murder probe
Arjune
Narine Singh
One of the policemen, who set up the Middleton Street roadblock on May 14 when Arjune Narine Singh was shot dead, was the subject of disciplinary action for failing to report that he was going out on duty that night.
Four months have elapsed since the incident but investigations remain at a standstill even as the 21-year-old’s relatives continue to press the police to bring the perpetrators to justice. A senior police officer told Stabroek News recently that the investigation into the incident was two-fold: the murder itself and the allegations made against the police.
He said that while nothing
new has come out of the murder investigation, the police were advised that
the ranks who were at the checkpoint be warned. He said that one of the
ranks was subjected to disciplinary action because he did not report that he
was going out on duty that night. It is unclear how the rank was
disciplined.
Concern had been voiced in the public that the roadblock did not seem to be
an authorized operation but one that had other motives. The conduct of the
policemen after the shooting was also severely criticized. One fled to the
Kitty police station and the other jumped into the trench.
The officer told this newspaper that there have been no leads in the case so far. Meanwhile in a letter to this newspaper last week, the man’s father, Narine Singh said that the police continue to keep the family in the dark about what they have gathered so far.
According to the elder Singh there have been no updates from the police on whether there was a motive for the shooting or whether any suspects have been identified. He recalled that back in mid May, he met with Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee and pleaded for whatever assistance the government could give to bring justice to the family for the loss of his only son.
“We need to remind the government that they are the ones responsible for protecting innocent citizens. What is the government doing to ensure that procedures are put in place for investigating and solving criminal activities in the country? Is there an internal investigation with regards to the police officers involved in setting up the roadblock? Well it does not appear so”, the man stressed.
Singh revealed that on the night of the killing, his son was carrying a cell phone and it was with the police at the crime scene but the force suddenly revealed that it was missing after he began making inquiries. He said that it is the Force’s obligation to report on this matter and provide updates and he called on Commissioner of Police (ag) Henry Greene to investigate the two police officers who set up this checkpoint.
“These officers should be held accountable and give the reason why a roadblock was set up at Middleton Street without proper authorization. This has caused the death of an innocent citizen. Why did this have to be the way that the police set up checkpoints? We are calling on the opposition parties and leaders of Guyana to give us justice”, Singh said.
In the letter, the man stressed that the whole episode is frustrating and is putting a lot of stress on he and his family especially with them not knowing what is going on with the investigation, if there is any at all.
“Our distress and grief is more than we can bear; it is an added burden to carry around, wondering and hoping to hear some feedback from the authorities. Our hopes and prayers are that our son’s death would not just go unsolved”, he said adding that the family is looking for closure so that their pain can ease, knowing what happened on that fateful night.
He described his son as a young, intelligent and caring person whose life was snatched away from him and pointed out that “No one deserves to die the way he died. He had a bright future in front of him”. He called on all Guyanese to come together to help fight crime in the country.
On May 14 at around 9.30 pm on a narrow, poorly lit Middleton Street two police ranks; one in uniform and the other in plainclothes chose to stop a car and check documents belonging to its occupants thus creating a traffic block due to the manner in which the uniformed rank was positioned. This resulted in a backup of two vehicles — Arjune’s and Larry Gursahai who was behind Arjune.
Within a few minutes of them being stalled on the road, a car pulled up alongside the checkpoint, a gunman disembarked and a fusillade erupted. Arjune was fatally wounded and Gursahai also sustained injuries. The uniformed rank fled the scene in the injured Gursahai’s vehicle stopping for the man to exit after Gursahai refused to drive to the Kitty police station. The other rank jumped into a nearby ditch and later emerged to call for backup.
Arjune’s family had previously rejected assertions that he was executed and call for an intensive police probe while pointing out that they were being kept in the dark.
A relative had told
Stabroek News that the family has repeatedly pressed the Force to find out
who were the policemen at the checkpoint that night and what exactly they
did before and after Singh was shot but got no answers. The relative
expressed hope that things will come to light in time. (Staff/Stabroek News)
September 26, 2008
Joint Services raid on Regent Street premises… ARMS CACHE SHOCKER
AK-47 rifle, Mosberg 12 gauge shotgun, Intratec 9mm. pistol with silencer, Glock pistol magazine, 713 rounds ammunition found in barrel
Three women
arrested
An arms cache, that included one AK-47 rifle, one Mosberg 12-gauge shotgun, one Intratec 9mm pistol with silencer and some 713 rounds of ammunition of various calibre, was on Wednesday night discovered in a barrel by ranks of the Joint Services during a raid on a City premises.
The raid was conducted about 18:30 h on Wednesday by ranks of the Joint Services who conducted a search on the premises at 120 Regent Street, Bourda, Georgetown.
There, the ranks found three firearms, seven hundred and thirteen (713) rounds of ammunition of various calibre, seven (7) magazines for different firearms along with a green camouflage water bottle and a green canvas pouch in a barrel. The Joint Services, in a statement last night, said three women have been arrested and are in police custody assisting with the investigations.
The list of arms and ammunition found are as follows:
One AK 47 rifle with the number filed out
One Mosberg 12 gauge shotgun
One Intratec 9mm. pistol with silencer
One AK 47 magazine
One Glock pistol magazine
Two .380 magazines
Two 9mm. magazines
One .40 magazine
240 rounds .45 ammo.
146 rounds 9mm. ammo.
114 rounds .40 ammo.
107 rounds .32 ammo.
43 rounds 10mm. ammo.
11 shotgun cartridges (12 gauge)
24 rounds 7.62 x 39 ammo.
1 round 7.62 x 51 ammo.
3 rounds .380 ammo.
19 rounds .22 ammo.
2 rounds .357 ammo.
1 round .38 special ammo.
2 rounds .38 ordinary ammo. (Guyana Cronicle)
September 24, 2008
Policeman receives severe beating.....
..... after attempting to extort $600,000
The policeman who allegedly attempted to extort an East Canje businessman being taken away from the scene by a plain clothes police officer
A police constable who was taken to the New Amsterdam Hospital following a beating, by an employee of Uprising Bar, Dance Club and Fashion Centre, after he allegedly attempted to extort $600,000 from an East Canje businessman, has been discharged and is assisting ranks with investigations.
The Guyana Chronicle arriving on the scene shortly after17:00 hours on Friday observed the cop partially dressed in uniform, lying on the floor of the premises with the gun allegedly used to threaten co-owner Nadia Jacops. The cop lost about ten teeth during the ordeal which lasted about fifteen minutes.According to an employee who spoke on condition of anonymity, the ‘hush money’, represented payment for two men who had posed as cops last week and had told Jacops’s husband, Ron that counterfeit currency was on his premises. The businessman is reported to have said that the men approached him last week and had threatened to kidnap his family members if the money was not paid by Friday.
Proprietress Nadia Jacops related that a man entered her store, pulled out a loaded firearm and held it to her chest before he was overpowered. She said the man claimed to be an on duty cop and was promised $200,000 if he got the job done.
This newspaper was told that Ms. Jacops was forcefully taken by the cop to the back of the premises, but an alert employee, being armed with a base ball bat disarmed the unsuspecting rank and in the process inflicted a beating on the cop, who was once stationed at Linden. According to information received, about a week or so ago some men went to the club, and exchanged US notes for local currency. However, the known individuals returned later and stated that the money consist of counterfeit notes.
The businessman was ordered to pay $650,000 as “hush” money, but after alerting senior ranks Jacops told his blackmailers that he acquired $600,000, and the remainder was to have been paid yesterday. He was asked to take the sum to Georgetown, then Rosignol, but he opted for the men to send a representative to his business premises at Rose Hall East Canje.
The employee told the Guyana Chronicle that within 45 minutes the police constable, arrived and was given a yellow envelope which consisted of shredded paper which the cop thought was cash. However, senior ranks which were alerted had ordered plain clothes ranks to be in close proximity of the business place. They thereafter arrested the disgraced police officer and took him to the New Amsterdam Hospital where he was treated and sent away. (Guyana Cronicle/Jeune Bailey Van-Keric photo)
Police hold two in ‘Lion’ killing
The blood stained motor cycle Davis was riding when attacked.
Two men were yesterday taken into custody and are assisting the police with investigations into the stabbing death of 38-year-old internet café proprietor, David Davis, in West Ruimveldt late Monday afternoon.
Davis, also called ‘Lion’, was pronounced dead on arrival at the Accident and Emergency Unit of the Georgetown Public Hospital shortly after he was picked up, limp and bleeding, in an alley way in West Ruimveldt. His blood-stained motor cycle was later handed over to his family.
He sustained several stab wounds inflicted with pointed objects, relatives said. Davis operated an internet café on the bottom flat of his home at 151 West Ruimveldt (Back Road) and was slain a short distance away during a power outage in the scheme.
The dead man’s mother-in-law, Ms. Cora Klass, who spoke with the Guyana Chronicle, said that shortly after 19:00 hrs Monday, she received a message stating that “Lion” had been stabbed while riding through an alley way in “West” and was in a bad state. Klass recalled that when she telephoned his home, her daughter, Tillita (“Lion’s” wife) was not at home, so other relatives hastened down to the scene.
Family members recalled that when they arrived at the scene, they discovered “Lion’s” body lying on the ground and under a sheet, and immediately feared the worst. Their fears were confirmed when he arrived at the hospital and was pronounced dead.
The woman said the family received conflicting reports at the scene of the incident, but based on all that was said, it appeared he was provoked to anger by persons and an argument ensued, resulting in violence. Pointing to the blood stained motor cycle, she said it was clear that he was attacked while on the cycle.
David Davis, the last of five siblings for his parents, George Perry and Daphne Verbena Davis, is also survived by his wife Tillita and two sons, ages 12 and 14. Police are continuing their investigations. (Guyana Cronicle)
Guyana still in group of most corrupt
Latest Transparency International survey
Guyana still ranks among the most corrupt countries, slipping three places on the Transparency International (TI) 2008 Corruption Percep-tion Index (CPI) released yesterday. In a survey of 180 countries, Guyana fell to 126 with a score of 2.6 out of 10. It is the lowest ranked English-speaking Caribbean nation on the list and the second lowest ranked Caricom territory behind Haiti.
Based in Germany, TI is a non governmental organization working to root out corruption. The CPI measures the perceived levels of corruption among public officials and politicians in countries, based on different expert and business surveys. Four surveys were used to determine Guyana’s score.
President Bharrat Jagdeo has consistently criticised the number of indicators that have been used to assess Guyana in the past as well as the sources responsible for the data.
For the Caribbean, St. Lucia ranked highest at 21 with a rating of 7.1, followed by Barbados at 22 with a 7.0 rating and St. Vincent and the Grenadines at 28 with a rating of 6.5. Cuba (65), Suriname (72), Trinidad and Tobago (72), Jamaica (96) and the Dominican Republic (102) also received higher ratings.
Guyana shares its ranking with seven other countries: Indonesia, Honduras, Ethio-pia, Uganda, Libya, Eritrea and Mozambique. Professor Johann Graf Lambsdorff of the University of Passau, who carries out the Index for TI, said an improvement in the CPI by one point (on the 10-point scale) increases capital inflows by 0.5% of a country’s gross domestic product and average incomes by as much as 4%.
Denmark, Sweden and New Zealand shared the highest score on the index at 9.3, while Haiti at 1.4, Iraq and Myanmar at 1.3 and Somalia at 1.0 were deemed the most corrupt.
In an official statement, TI said persistently high corruption in low-income countries amounts to an ongoing humanitarian disaster that cannot be tolerated. “In the poorest countries, corruption levels can mean the difference between life and death, when money for hospitals or clean water is in play,” Huguette Labelle, Chair of Trans-parency International, was quoted as saying in the statement.
TI said whether in high or low-income countries, the challenge of reigning in corruption requires functioning societal and governmental institutions. Poorer countries are often plagued by corrupt judiciaries and ineffective parliamentary oversight, it said.
On the other hand, wealthy countries show evidence of insufficient regulation of the private sector, particularly in terms of addressing overseas bribery by their countries, and weak oversight of financial institutions and transactions.
“Stemming corruption requires strong oversight through parliaments, law enforcement, independent media and a vibrant civil society,” Labelle said. “When these institutions are weak, corruption spirals out of control with horrendous consequences for ordinary people and for justice and equality in societies more broadly.”
TI also said that in low-income countries, rampant corruption jeopardises the global fight against poverty and threatens to derail the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). According to its 2008 Global Corruption Report, unchecked levels of corruption would add US$50 billion or nearly half of annual global aid outlays to the cost of achieving the MDG on water and sanitation.
As a result, it is urging a redoubling of efforts in low-income countries, where the welfare of significant portions of the population hangs in the balance. It is also calling for a more focused and coordinated approach by the global donor community to ensure development assistance is designed to strengthen institutions of governance and oversight in recipient countries, and that aid flows are fortified against abuse and graft. (Staff/Stabroek News)
September 21, 2008
Former GDF officer may be key witness in Roger Khan drug trial
A retired Guyana Defence Force (GDF) officer may be used as a key witness against drug accused Roger Khan who has since sought to discredit any notion that they could have been co-conspirators in exporting drugs, alleging that he had exposed the former officer’s links to the criminal enterprise in Buxton.
The former army officer, who made the news on numerous occasions several years ago, and who in the past had received the personal attention of President Bharrat Jagdeo, was reportedly nabbed in the US and subsequently turned state witness.
From all indications, even before Khan was arrested in Trinidad and taken to the US, he had gotten wind of the possibility of the ex-officer testifying against him, after he (Khan) was named as a drug trafficker in the US 2006 drug report. He made “assorted accusations” against the former officer and others during his March 2006 meeting with US officials at the Ocean View Hotel.
He sought to provide “evidence” that the man had worked in cohort with Shawn Brown, one of the five February 23, 2002 prison escapees. He had alleged that the then officer, who had been in charge of Operation Tourniquet in Buxton, was in league with Brown, who was responsible for kidnapping former US diplomat Stephen Lesniak.
Operation Tourniquet was established as part of the joint operations with the police and the army to arrest the wave of criminal activity on the lower East Coast by criminals who operated out of Buxton. Since his name has been mentioned on several occasions in Khan’s case, there have been several questions about the whereabouts of the now ex-officer and whether he was still a member of the GDF.
Stabroek News contacted the army’s Public Relations Officer, Woman Colonel Windee Algernon, and she said that the man had retired. She explained that while he might not have reached the normal age of retirement there was a system in the army where an officer could retire based on the number of years served. However, Col Algernon could not say when he retired; whether he asked for early retirement or opted for same as she said she would have to check his file to get such information.
However, Stabroek News understands that the ex-officer, who had attained the rank of major, opted for early retirement and might be in the US at present. Sources have indicated to this newspaper that the man was well known to Khan and persons were aware that the two worked together, even though Khan now wanted to portray them as enemies. According to reliable information reaching this newspaper, the officer and his brother, who is now somewhere in the UK, were working for Khan during his reign in Guyana.
Recalled
Back in May 2003, the then captain was the only officer who President Jagdeo refused to promote from a long list of officers recommended for promotion. While the final authority for promotions rests with the Defence Board, before the move by the President in 2003 recommendations from the army had been accepted with no rejections.
The then captain was recommended by a promotions panel chaired by the then chief of staff, Brigadier Michael Atherly, based on the recommendation of his battalion commander. The commander’s recommendation was said to be based on the ex-officer’s attitude and performance in his substantive rank, his suitability for promotion to higher rank and authority as well as his suitability for retention in the army.
That assessment was reached based on a recommendation of a promotion panel at the battalion level, which reviewed the ex-officer’s annual confidential reports and assessed his suitability. The fact that the then captain was subsequently promoted to the rank of major brings into question the reason for President Jagdeo blocking his promotion in 2003.
The Minister of Defence, who is President Jagdeo, had also recalled the former officer from a training course in the USA, for which the GDF had selected him. The officer was halfway through the course when he was ordered to return to Guyana.
Stabroek News was told at that time that in the case of training overseas, except for officers of the rank of colonel and above, the convention was that the selection was made at the level of the GDF, but that the Minister of Defence had the final authority.
Reports at that time had also indicated that it was not the practice for the GDF to submit a list of officers sent for training overseas to the Defence Board, and it was a mystery as to how President Jagdeo knew that the officer had been sent on a training course in the USA.
Don’t shoot
Meanwhile, back in 2002 the then officer was one of the several others who had testified in the Linden London alias ‘Blackie’ inquest that the cornered fugitive was killed by a hail of bullets when he emerged from his hiding place with hands on his head, although another army officer had shouted pleas not to shoot.
He, along with the others, was recalling for the benefit of Coroner Melissa Robertson and a jury, what had happened when a joint police and army siege was laid to Toucan Suites apartment hotel at Eccles, on February 9, 2000, to capture the fugitive who had been wanted for murders and robberies.
The officer had said that the shots from which London fell were fired despite former army captain Wycliffe McAllister shouting:” Don’t shoot! Hold your fire!”
Subversive activities
When President Jagdeo had refused to promote the then officer, senior army sources at that time had told Stabroek News that nothing in the man’s record indicated that he had behaved in an inappropriate manner either during his assignment in Buxton or in the other locations at which he was stationed.
However, this was not the picture Roger Khan painted in a motion he filed through his lawyers. That motion claimed that the then officer was so involved in criminal activities in Buxton that he delayed finding Lesniak, even though information of the location of the kidnapped man was provided.
The US has since sought to disallow any evidence about the ex-officer’s alleged criminal activities from the trial as they see it as “self serving” for Khan and irrelevant to the fact that the man trafficked in drugs.
While the prosecution has argued that any involvement of Khan in the diplomat’s release was irrelevant to the drug case, Khan’s lawyers had stated in the motion: “… the relevance of evidence pertaining to the Lesniak kidnapping is broader than the government addresses.
The fact that Lesniak was kidnapped and taken to the village of Buxton – about which fact he could testify – is significant. [Name of then GDF officer] was in charge of the military force responsible for bringing the Buxton criminals under control, but was in fact in league with them – including Shawn Brown, who kidnapped Lesniak.”
According to the lawyers, they had evidence that will show that the then officer was supportive of the kidnapping and deliberately delayed at a military checkpoint a search party, which had learned, through Khan’s intelligence activities, Lesniak’s precise location, and as such compromised the search.
The motion claimed that Khan coordinated with US agents in securing Lesniak’s release, and subsequently to end “[name of ex-GDF officer’s] subversive activities at Buxton”. The lawyers also stated that such evidence supported the conclusion that Khan and the ex-officer were enemies, and thus not likely co-conspirators. (Stabroek News)
September 15, 2008
Trial for woman accused of killing lover’s estranged wife
Iana Hamilton
Magistrate Fazil Azeez at the Vreed-en-Hoop Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday committed a woman, charged with murder, to stand trial in the High Court after finding that a prima facie case had been made out against her.
21-year-old Roxanne Daniels of Cove and John, East Coast Demerara had been charged with the murder of Iana Hamilton, her lover’s estranged wife. It is alleged that on January 6 this year at Vreed-en-Hoop, Daniels murdered Hamilton.
Reports are that on the night in question Hamilton had gone to the New Road, Vreed-en-Hoop residence of her husband, from whom she is separated and reportedly had a “scramble” with Daniels during which she was stabbed. Daniels was said to be in a relationship with Hamilton’s husband.
Hamilton was transported to the West Demerara Regional Hospital where she was pronounced dead on arrival. Her body bore a stab wound to the left side of her chest. Her husband and Daniels were arrested and following investigations Daniels was charged.
In court, the magistrate summarized the case and said that a prima facie case had been made out and committed Daniels to stand trial in the High Court for the capital offence. (Staff/Stabroek News)
Suspect in attack on Wismar nurses held - Police
Police yesterday said they had arrested a man in connection with Wednesday’s attack on two nurses attached to the Wismar Hospital during which one of them was raped. A release from the police said that the man was arrested at about 9 pm on Saturday at One Mile, Wismar.
Stabroek News understands that the man was arrested while liming under a tree. Residents yesterday reported that they had been very fearful of the man since he was released from prison in February of this year. Some said that since the incident involving the nurses the man has been sighted passing by the residence of one of the two nurses.
Meanwhile, nurses at the two hospitals yesterday vowed to continue their strike even though the man was arrested. They said that while they are happy that an arrest has been made they cannot be sure that the right person is in custody.
The nurses told Stabroek News that they have several demands that must be met before they return to duty, among which is the removal of the Chief Executive Officer of the hospital, Gordon Gumbs, since according to them he is not very supportive of their cause.
The nurses are also calling for the permanent presence of an armed police officer along with the regular security at both institutions and that both police stations at Wismar and Mackenzie must have sufficient ranks on duty especially at nights. They said that on many occasions whenever there is need for a police presence only one rank is at the post.
Nurses said that they are expecting an audience with Minister of Health Dr. Leslie Ramsammy tomorrow morning. The nurses said that during a meeting on Friday regional officials were trying to negotiate the resumption of duty by some of the main nurses including midwives but to no avail. At that time there was an emergency which required the transfer of a pregnant woman to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).
There being no nurse midwife, a hospital official insisted that the ambulance attendant accompany the patient. “No way could an ambulance attendant accompany such a case without a nurse. So they refused. However in the interest of the patient a third year medical student went along,” a nurse said.
The officials in their negotiation had committed on a temporary basis, a bus to take night nurses to and from their homes and one armed guard at the facility but they were unsuccessful.
Speaking with Stabroek News yesterday Chairman of Region 10 Mortimer Mingo said that he was very concerned about the service to residents. He said that he had inquired from the hospital’s CEO about outpatient care at the Wismar Hospital. “I feel strongly that residents need to be informed officially about the system of care at this time. There should be a public notice to this effect.”
Speaking on the issue of security for the hospital, its staff and patients, Mingo said that arrangements implemented through the Ministry of Health are grossly inadequate even at its best. Investigations revealed that the ministry had arranged to have an armed guard taken from his regular post at the RDC building on a 12-hour shift and placed at the Linden Hospital Complex. It was also confirmed that no outpatient care was being done at the Upper Demerara Hospital. (Staff/Stabroek News)
September 12, 2008
Roger Khan’s lawyer on US$3.5M bond
Accused of witness tampering, US attorney Robert Simels, counsel for Shaheed ‘Roger’ Khan.
Robert Simels, the United States lawyer for embattled Guyanese businessman Shaheed ‘Roger’ Khan, has been released on US$3.5M bond, after a court appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Cheryl Pollak in a Brooklyn Federal Court on Wednesday, accused of conspiring to obstruct justice.
The informant, according to one NY paper said Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) investigators have alleged that in May last, as Khan awaits trial in Brooklyn, a Phantom Squad member who was cooperating with them learned that Simels wanted to talk to him.
The complaint against Simels stems from a secretly recorded conversation which Simels had with a government informant in his York Avenue office on the Upper East Side on June 19, and Simels allegedly handed over $1,000. Simels, according to the taped conversation, told the informant "Here's $1,000 to get started."
The DEA says that in conversations over the summer, some secretly recorded, Simels asked the cooperator to help him locate potential government witnesses and pondered what to do when they were found. The attorney "discussed a range of options, from offering them money to murdering their family members," the criminal complaint says.
The court documents note that Simels, who is alleged to be working under orders from Khan, had strict orders not to kill the witness' mother, and also to offer cash to bribe another witness. In the conversation recorded in May, about bribing the unnamed witness, the informant suggested the witness "might suddenly get amnesia" if paid enough money. "That's a terrible thing, but if it happens, it happens," Simels responded, according to the complaint, and later in the same meeting, the lawyer remarked, "Obviously, any witness you can eliminate is a good thing."
Simels who has built a reputation in the US for representing big-time mobsters and football stars and other celebrities, allegedly attempted to "eliminate" and "neutralise" Doe from a witness list over a three-month period, and "discussed a range of options from offering them money to murdering their family members," according to the documents presented in court.
A US newspaper report quoted him as saying as he walked out of court after being released, “ You know what they say - gotta wait for the end of the proceedings." And, when the undercover informant said "no problem," Simels replied, "All [Khan] he says is to be careful. He says don't kill the mother."
The court documents filed by the Feds also named one of Simels’ associate identified as Arienne Irving who was said to be at one of the meetings with the government informant and allegedly enquired as to the whereabouts of John Doe 1’s wife and girlfriend.
Simels’ attorney, Gerald Shargel, who has labelled the allegations false, is also reported in the NY Post as saying his client, "Bob Simels is well-known as a tenacious, effective and highly capable defense lawyer and he was doing his work."
The report noted that there was no immediate response to phone messages left for Shargel yesterday. Khan, who was on the run from Guyana after a wanted Police bulletin was posted, was nabbed in Suriname and after spending sometime in jail without charges, was subsequently deported. Khan was placed on a flight in Suriname in 2006, and once it landed in Trinidad, he was arrested by DEA and extradited to the United States on drug trafficking charges. (Guyana Cronicle)
September 10, 2008
Boy still in custody over schoolgirl murder
A grieving Rajesh Panday points to the spot where the body of his 13-year-old daughter Kavita was found on Monday.
A boy was last evening still in police custody over the horrific murder of Kavita Panday whose body was found in a trench at the back of Block D Bath Settlement, West Coast Berbice on Monday. Panday, was a second former at the Number 11, Secondary School.
Police said in a release yesterday the teen was found floating in a canal around 2:30 pm on Monday and she was last seen alive around 1 pm in the company of a male riding towards her parents’ farm on the canal embankment.
A search for her was carried out sometime later after she had not returned home and her battered body was found in the canal. It is believed that the girl may have been raped before she was killed.
The police are awaiting the results of a post-mortem which could be performed today. Stabroek News understands that the suspect said to be 14-years-old had what appeared to be scratch marks on the neck when he was held by the police. The quiet community was still in shock yesterday and many gathered at the dead girl’s home to offer support to her parents and two siblings.
As a result of the trauma, the girl’s mother had to seek treatment at the Fort Welling-ton Hospital twice. The area when Panday’s body was found is about a five-minute bicycle ride from her home and it is a desolate area. There are no houses in close proximity to the farming plots. Several villagers in the community used that area to plant vegetables on a small scale.
Fighting back tears, her father Rajesh said that he began farming on the plot of land about six months ago and usually he and his wife would tend to the plants. He said that on Monday, his wife Claudette left the home for a friend’s house nearby and she warned Kavita that if she saw cows in their plot she should call her immediately and not go to the area alone.
The teen however did not heed her mother’s admonition as when she saw the cows on the plot she borrowed a neighbour’s bicycle and went to the area. Rajesh recounted that his wife later saw the girl heading into the plot with the suspect from the back of the house she was at. Some time elapsed, he said and the neighbour needed his bicycle to run an errand and after the child did not return he went to the area and collected it. It was lying at the side of the road.
The grieving father told Stabroek News that his wife became worried after the child failed to return home and she decided to go in search of her. He said that the suspect’s parents operate a farm not far from his and as his wife approached the area she noticed the boy bathing near the trench.
She said that as she neared her plot the lad met her and she asked if he had seen Kavita but he responded in the negative. The two subsequently went to the plot to search for the girl and according to Rajesh the boy immediately went to a clump of bushes outside the fencing and pointed to Panday’s slippers and hat.
An alarm was raised and other villagers came out and the child’s body was found in the trench. Rajesh said that the area around her left eye was black and blue and there was a mark on her left side.
He said too that the tights, underwear and skirt she was wearing were at her knees. “I wuk hard fuh ma children them…I can’t believe that someone did something like this to her. It’s hard for me”, he said fighting back his tears. (Zoisa Fraser/Stabroek News)
September 5, 2008
Agricola youths urged to learn from Skinny’s mistakes
As escapee buried
Jermaine ‘Skinny’ Charles was laid to rest in Agricola before a large, sentimental home crowd yesterday, which also would have been his 23rd birthday.
Villagers viewing ‘Skinny’s’ body in the church following the funeral service yesterday.
His send off at the Penial Wesleyan Tabernacle Church, Water Street Agricola, which got underway around 4 pm following a lengthy viewing at his mother’s residence was punctuated with tears, a few frank comments about his life, some ‘throw-downs’ and a strong charge to Agricola youths to learn from his mistakes.
No one was allowed to even so much as whisper any of those mistakes but a young lad sitting a little distance away from the door at the church likely had no idea. The boy briefly commented that Charles broke out of jail in “hero style” and drew cold, long stares until he smiled and said that Charles was his “solider”.
Charles, a multiple murder accused and prison escapee, was gunned down along with Rondel ‘Fineman’ Rawlins during a shoot out with members of the Joint Services in Kuru Kururu last Thursday. One of their associates, Seon Grant was killed several hours earlier at a shack in Timehri.
With the sun beating down on them and police shadowing their movements Agricola residents turned out in vast numbers to pay respect to Charles who they referred to as “we own”- some lamenting his demise as they strolled to Brutus Street home for an earlier viewing.
Charles lay in his coffin clothed in cream pants and matching long sleeve shirt with a rag tucked in his left front pocket. He wore a white headband and cap. A flag bearing the image of a lion was resting alongside the box. The flag later draped the box when Charles was taken away for burial deeper in the village.
Using Charles’s life, which many said he lived doing things his way and the image of his lifeless body lying in the coffin for all to see, particularly the Agricola youths who turned out, calls were made for different paths to be taken and for mothers to show their sons and daughters what a life in Christ was like.
‘Protect the youths’
Declaring that they were there to celebrate his life and not his deeds, the congregation remembered Charles as the little boy who grew up in Agricola often walking around shirtless. He went to school and later acquired some skills at a technical city school before finding odd jobs then no jobs at all.
He left the village, according to those who spoke, but his roots were there; his mother, family and friends were there. His mother sat quietly throughout the service holding a younger one who many repeatedly begged her to protect.
“Protect our youths and let them walk in your path,” a woman said drawing resounding shouts of approval from the crowd. The day, though focused on Charles, turned into a sermon about the future of the young men in Agricola and concern for the young women, many of whom, turned out to say tearful goodbyes to Charles.
Women were asked to steer their boys in the right direction and to keep them away from the gun barrel and out of prison, to show them God and to see that they kept in line, and to say a prayer for the village was constantly being looked upon in the wrong light.
Even as the church service was in progress there was confrontation between police officers and scores of mourners who chose to pay their last respects from the road way.
Arrests
Police in plain clothes and uniform, some armed to the teeth, circled the entire village while the body was still at Charles’s Brutus Street home and as the service commenced some of them parked on both sides of the church some distance away. Some of the law men, with big guns, walked through the large crowd in front of the church and this saw them being taunted by the mostly women who were on the road. The crowd became riled after the law men apprehended two young men and took them to their vehicles.
Stabroek News observed two police officers with guns approach a teenager who was dressed in black and standing on a bridge next door to the church. They told the young man to place his hands in the air and then proceeded to search him. With his hands still in the air, they ordered him to their vehicle, which was some distance away and placed him inside. After talking to the young man even as the taunting got louder the police finally released him and he was ordered into the church by the women. Another young man suffered the same fate but after he was released, he immediately left the area.
As the two men were being interrogated by the police, the women on the road quickly ordered the young men among them to go into the church. “Go into the church. You come to the funeral you all go in. No matter wah condition you all in God don’t mind. You see wah happening to them,” one woman shouted even as the young men heeded their instruction and quickly scampered into the church.
“Look how Skinny gat allyu, you all guarding he body and all,” one woman told the lawmen. Another woman asked, “Is mo bullets you all wan put in he body?” “Is you all get dem young man like how dem deh. Look wah you all doing to he and he ent do nothing,” another one shouted as the police took away the youngster in black. Another woman proceeded to bend over and shake her rare end at the police officers much to the amusement of her friends.
Back in church Pastor Suffrien asked persons who were close to the dead man to pay tribute to him and the first person who got up was a woman who identified herself as his aunt. She said many might condemn her nephew but he was dead now and she was certain that he “made peace with God before he dead.”
‘Who are their sustainers?’
Another woman, who said she did not know Skinny but knew his brother, asked those without sin to cast the first stone. “I am not here to justify anything, Skinny did what he did,” she said, adding that they should ask themselves why their young men were taking such paths. “We need to ask who are their sustainers? And we need to understand that it is the social, moral and political systems that have them like that,” she said.
Another woman, who is a pastor in the area, recalled that Skinny grew up opposite her and she always used to tell him not to leave his home without a shirt. She told the congregation that they needed to pray for “our sons, is three from Agricola one time and we need to pray for them even if you don’t have sons.” Skinny, Grant and Rawlins all grew up in Agricola.
As the last viewing of the body in church concluded, one young woman created a ruckus as she screamed and threw herself on the floor. And even as she screamed Skinny’s mother was observed comforting her with not a tear in her eyes.
As the tributes were being made many of the persons told the young man’s mother to stay strong for her other two sons. The woman shared out programmes for the funeral service after which she sat through the service at the front of the church dry-eyed.
And as the coffin was about to be closed, one little girl in the arms of a woman was overheard asking, “Is who kill Jermaine? Is why Jermaine deh suh?” as she pointed to his body in the coffin. Skinny’s coffin was carried from the church by six young men and taken to the burial ground not far away, with a large crowd following. (Iana Seales and Oluatoyin Alleyne/Stabroek News)
September 4, 2008
Body of missing father of three found in Bloomfield
Six persons arrested
Chandradat Hemraj
A 37-year-old father of three was yesterday found dead in his Bloomfield, Corentyne village days after he went missing subsequent to attending a religious function.
The bloated body of Chandradat Hemraj also known as ‘Fry Fish’ of Third Street, Bloomfield, Corentyne Berbice, was found face down in a ditch located in a yard with an abandoned house.
His body, which was semi-nude as he had on no shirt and his pants and briefs were around his knees, was discovered following a frantic search by villagers after he failed to return home since Saturday.
The police have since arrested six persons, four males and two females, from the area as there were visible marks of violence on the man’s bloated body. A relative told Stabroek News that it was also evident that the man had been sodomised with an object.
The man’s sister, Chandrapattie Singh called ‘Gallsy’, told Stabroek News yesterday that she last saw her brother around 7 am on Saturday when he left to attend a religious function a few villages away. She said when he did not return on Saturday night, she was not worried because he sometimes stayed out. It was after he did not return on Monday that she alerted villagers and started searching for him. She said residents of the village, Letter Kenny, where he attended the religious function recalled seeing him until around 7 pm on Saturday.
She was not at the scene when the gruesome discovery of her brother’s body was made and she said she was just concentrating on ensuring that her brother receives a decent funeral. Another relative, Pertab Singh, told Stabroek News that he had received information that Hemraj had returned to Bloomfield but instead of going home he stopped at a birthday celebration a few houses from where he lived.
It was while he was there he was asked by two other men to purchase some cigarettes and he was given a bicycle and $1,000 to run the errand. He never returned. It believed that at least two of the persons arrested by the police might have attacked the man and beaten him to death, sexually assaulting him in the process, and stealing the $1,000. The men are said to be known cocaine users in the area.
According to Pertab Singh, it was obvious that the man was beaten “mercilessly” as blood was evident in the yard and from all indications he was dragged and thrown into the ditch as they was a bloody trail leading to where his body was found.
Hemraj was described as a man who was very quiet and who never troubled anyone. “Even the littlest child could talk to he and he would hear,” Pertab Singh said. He said he was mentally challenged and never had a steady job but would do odd jobs around the neighbourhood. Hemraj was married with three children, two girls and one boy, but had been separated from his wife for several years.
Meanwhile, relatives lamented the fact that they had to pay $30,000 to remove the man’s body as the police officers on the scene stated that they had no one to remove the body. Reports are that the regular undertaker refused to remove the body because of its decomposed state and while the body was found at around 8 am yesterday, it was not removed until 1 pm. It is expected that a post-mortem examination would be performed on the man’s body today. (Staff/Stabroek News)
Funerals for two ‘Fineman’ confederates today, tomorrow
Funeral arrangements have been made for two confederates of Rondell Rawlins alias ‘Fineman’ who were killed the same day with him by the Joint Services. Seon Grant nicknamed ‘Troyee’, of Timehri Squatting Area, East Bank Demerara and Agricola, Greater Georgetown, will be buried today, after a viewing of his body at Sandy’s Funeral Parlour, Lot 1 Chapel Street, Lodge.
However, the remains of prison escapee Jermaine ‘Skinny’ Charles were still at Sandy’s and he will be laid to rest at Agricola tomorrow. But the corpse of Rawlins is at Newburg Funeral Home, Lot 18 Norton Street, also in Georgetown, awaiting a funeral date. Reports said he is likely to be interred in his home village, Tempie, West Coast Berbice.
The bodies of the trio were handed over to their relatives on Monday, following post mortem examinations which verified that they died of shock and haemorrhage, resulting from multiple gunshot wounds. Rawlins and Charles were shot dead at Kuru Kuru, along Soesdyke/Linden Highway on August 28 by Joint Services ranks, who had earlier killed Grant.
During the operation to capture the fugitives, Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Corporal Cush was wounded on his right hand and is resting comfortably in the Army Medical Centre at Camp Ayanganna, Thomas Lands, in the city, too. (Michel Outridge/Guyana Cronicle)
September 3, 2008
Cops in crackdown on ‘Skinny’ support network
Now that the joint services have been able to eliminate wanted men Rondell ‘Fineman’ Rawlins and Jermaine ‘Skinny’ Charles, investigators are beginning to crack the back of what was a well-organized network that supported and aided, particularly Charles, following his escape from the Sparendaam lock-ups.
A police source told Stabroek News that the lawmen were in pursuit of many persons who lent all types of support to the men and were investigating others who could soon face the courts. The source said that once evidence pointed to the fact that those individuals assisted the escapee in any way, they would be charged.
Following months of pursuit, the joint services last week shot and killed Guyana’s most wanted Rawlins, for whom a $50 million reward had been issued for information leading to his arrest, along with multiple murder accused and prison escapee Charles. So far two persons have been charged with harbouring Charles, William Younge, his uncle and a female family friend, Louton Simon.
Meanwhile, this newspaper was reliably informed that up to press time last night, Charles’s aunt was in police custody assisting with investigations and being questioned along the lines of possibly harbouring the man. This newspaper was told that the woman, who was at the Georgetown Public Hospital mortuary where the men’s bodies were taken for post-mortem examinations on Monday, was arrested by the police shortly after.
The woman was held overnight and up to late yesterday had not been released. This newspaper was reliably informed too that a sister of Seon Grant, the man who was killed outside his Timehri shack where the wanted men had been staying for some time, was also taken in for questioning following the post-mortem examinations on Monday. She was reportedly questioned and released late yesterday.
Meanwhile, another relative of Charles told this newspaper that other relatives were afraid that they too would be rounded up and charged. The woman, who did not want her name mentioned, insisted that the uncle who has been charged with harbouring Charles, was innocent.
“William used to always say that he nephew ain’t gon make him get his death. But look what happen now. I mean he already dead and now its only more stress for the family. They done kill he. Why they want to lock us up?” the concerned relative said.
The relative was particularly concerned about aunt currently in custody. She said the woman was a security guard and a mother of four and being kept by the police for such a long time meant she could not prepare her children for school.
The relative said that she and others were staying far from any police station since they too feared being pulled in for questioning. This newspaper was reliably informed that Charles was seen frequently in the Agricola community and was also seen with former friends. The police are said to be looking for several persons and a man who reportedly chauffeured the now dead fugitive around.
Early Thursday morning, acting on a tip-off, teams from the Joint Services Operation Group and the Guyana Defence Force Special Force along with members of the Special Forces proceeded to an area in Timehri about 500 metres east of the GDF ammunition dump. There, the lawmen said, they came under fire from shooters in an identifiable house.
They returned fire and saw three men running from the house. When they descended on the scene they found the body of a man who was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. The man was identified as Grant.
The two men who had fled ended up in Kuru Kururu at a place villagers call Kakabura at a small, unfinished concrete structure. There was an exchange of gunfire around 12.45 pm in which two men, later identified as Rawlins and Charles were killed. (Staff/Stabroek News)
September 2, 2008
After his killing…
Uncle, woman friend charged with harbouring ‘Skinny’
Skinny’s uncle, William Younge
A man and a woman appeared in Court yesterday, on separate charges of harbouring Jermaine ‘Skinny’ Charles, who was killed, together with most wanted Rondell Rawlins alias ‘Fine Man’, in a confrontation with the Joint Services last week Thursday.
William Younge, of Lot 133 Remus Street, Agricola, Greater Georgetown and Loutan Simon called ‘Lu Lu’, also 32, of Lot 32 Goedverwagting, East Coast Demerara, both pleaded not guilty before Acting Chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson-Ogle.
It is alleged that, between June 26 and August 28, they knowingly harboured Charles, whose name and photograph was publicly displayed as a person wanted in connection with the commission of murder.
Police Corporal Sherwin Matthews, prosecuting, said Younge gave two addresses, one at Agricola and the other at ‘A’ Field, Sophia, also in the city. The Prosecutor said Younge has a pending carnal knowledge case, as well, but has not been attending Court.
The defendant refuted the statement, saying, on the last occasion, the matter was postponed to September 20. But, when the magistrate informed him that would be a Saturday, he responded that he must have lost the correct date. Asked about the previous time he made an appearance, Younge said August 24, which was a Sunday.
Loutan Simon called ‘Lu Lu’
He said the Police asked him a few questions about others who are in prison and he told them about ‘Chrissy’, who, they said, used to be with Charles. Younge alleged that the Police beat and tortured him by putting plastic over his face and shocking him and he signed on a piece of paper, under pressure, without reading what was on it.
He asked the magistrate, if she felt it was right for him to be beaten and, responding that she was not in a position to answer, she transferred the case to another Court. Simon, who also has the next court date of September 8, declared she did not know what plea to enter but did not want to waste time. The magistrate entered a not guilty plea for the mother of five.
Then attorney-at-law Mr. Mortimer Coddette, appearing as a curious friend, told the Court the woman has a two months old baby she has not seen since her incarceration. The lawyer said, based on Simon’s state of mind, the magistrate had done the safest thing, as the woman was in a “state of panic.” Coddette said Simon has a brother in jail and, while visiting him there, she was asked to pay for some water for Charles whom she did not know. Coddette said he was not sure how Charles got Simon’s number.
Prosecutor Matthews said, in a statement Simon gave to Police, she said she lives at Lot 4, Field 9, Cummings Lodge but gave a different address yesterday. Matthews said it was clear Simon is not telling the truth and that she used to communicate with criminal elements. He said Simon communicated with Charles via cell phone and other charges are likely to be laid against her. She, too, like Younge, was remanded to prison. (Guyana Cronicle)
Cop arrested over phone stolen from US-bound passenger
The police have arrested one of their own for allegedly stealing a cellular phone from an outgoing passenger at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri. According to a police release, a member of the Special Constabulary who was on duty at the scanner at the airport was arrested last Friday after he allegedly stole a cellular phone from an outgoing passenger bound for the United States.
Meanwhile, another police officer has also been arrested for allegedly taking a bribe while manning a roadblock on the East Bank. (Staff/Stabroek News)
Police harassment turned ‘Fineman’ into criminal – uncle says
An uncle of the notorious Rondell `Fineman’ Rawlins who was gunned down during a standoff with lawmen in the Kuru Kururu area last week said yesterday that it was the police and their constant harassment that turned him into a criminal as he previously had a bright future ahead of him.
Linden Archibald, during an interview with the media yesterday, said Rawlins had been a thriving upholsterer in Agricola often attended church but it was the police who changed him.
At the time of the interview, Archibald was at the Georgetown Hospital Mortuary along with other relatives of Rawlins, Jermaine `Skinny’ Charles and Seon Grant, who were killed last Thursday. The post-mortem examinations were conducted yesterday. Visibly upset, the man said it was the police who turned his nephew into a criminal. According to him, Rawlins at one time had a “good and kind heart”.
“This boy use to do upholstery work in Agricola. But it is a frame charge they put him on and turn him into a criminal,” he said adding that several years ago he had taken it upon himself to go to Commissioner of Police (ag) Henry Greene who was then a Commander to complain about the police harassment of Rawlins, but to no avail.
Archibald expressed his disgust that Rawlins name was linked to every crime that occurred in the country. “Every time somebody dead, they find a bullet that ‘Fineman’ had that kill that person,” he added.
Heavy police presence
Meanwhile Archibald said there was heavy police presence when he arrived at the morgue around 6.25 am. He said that he was being taken to see his nephew’s remains when he was told that he had to wait until the PM was completed. Archibald said when he enquired the reason for the police presence, he was told it was for security reasons.
“The police protecting him because they apparently feel that this dead man will get up and run away.” Shortly after 10 am, the wrapped bodies of Charles and Grant, were placed in a waiting hearse, which later drove off closely followed by heavily armed policemen.
Relatives of Charles were openly voicing their disapproval at not being allowed to see his body. “He don dead man. Why police got to deh behind he like that?”, a relative asked. About 15 minutes later, the body of Rawlins was brought out and his relatives requested that his face be shown; they questioned why his face was so heavily wrapped.
A woman who was standing nearby was openly wailing, “Ow ma God they kill ma lil brother”. Relatives were told that if they wanted to see the bodies they had to go to the Lyken’s Funeral Home. A police jeep with two heavily armed policemen sitting at the back, trailed the hearse transporting Rawlins’ remains as it left the compound.
Early Thursday morning, acting on a tip-off, teams from the Joint Services Operation Group and the Guyana Defence Force Special Force along with members of the Special Forces proceeded to an area in Timehri about 500 metres east of the GDF ammunition dump.
There, the lawmen said, they came under fire from shooters in an identifiable house. They returned fire and saw three men running from the house. When they descended on the scene they found the body of a man who was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) where he was pronounced dead on arrival. The man was identified as Grant.
The two men who had fled ended up in Kuru Kururu at a place villagers call Kakabura at a small unfinished concrete structure. There was an exchange of gunfire around 12.45 pm in which two men, later identified as Rawlins and Charles were killed.
Sources have since told Stabroek News that Rawlins and Charles might have suspected that Grant had informed the joint services about their movements and killed him hours before they were cut down in a hail of bullets. (Staff/Stabroek News)
September 1, 2008
Woman detained after number found in ‘Skinny’s’ phone
Family says she has been beaten
A mother of five has been detained by the police after her number was discovered in a cellular phone found on Jermaine ‘Skinny’ Charles at the time of his death and relatives have alleged that she has been beaten.
Relatives of Lucy Simon say she was carted off in handcuffs from a home in Sophia on Thursday evening. Stabroek News was told that two van loads of soldiers and policemen descended on the home and arrested the woman and a brother, who has since been released.
Relatives said that the woman has since stated that she has been shuttled between the East La Penitence Police Station and Eve Leary and that she has been beaten. Police officials could not be reached yesterday for comment.
Relatives say she has since been informed that her number was found in Charles’ phone. She received a call on her phone sometime on Thursday but was not aware that she was talking to a law officer and revealed where she was after the information was requested.
The woman operates a shop in Sophia and according to her relatives she cooks and sleeps in the shop with her children.
The lawmen descended on the shop, which was at the time being operated by her 11-year-old daughter, late Thursday afternoon. Her brother was sitting outside the shop at the time and when he was asked who he was he told them that he was just a customer. According to the family, the child was roughed up after saying she didn’t know where her mother was.
As they were taking the child from the shop she told them the man sitting outside was her uncle and they should ask him where her mother was. Relatives said that the lawmen then started to beat her brother and at the same time Simon, who was above the shop in her relative’s home peeped out of a window. The officers saw her and entered the home. Simon and her brother were then carted off to the station.
Relatives stated that that the woman said she met Charles after visiting a relative in the prison but that he had never communicated with her since his escape. She said the only communication she has ever had with Charles was when he requested a bottle of water when she visited the prison. She does not know how he got her phone number.
The woman’s relatives are very concerned about her well being but said they can ill afford a lawyer at this time. The woman is said to be in constant pain and still nurses her one-year-old daughter. She has since stated that the police have informed her that she would be charged with harbouring criminals. “They must be want her to provide information on the other criminals but she ent know nothing,” one relative said. (Staff/Stabroek News)
Body of Dredge Creek man found with wounds
The body of a 39-year-old Dredge Creek man was found floating in the Pomeroon River early yesterday morning with wounds to the front and back of the head. According to a police press release, the body of Linden Henry of Dredge Creek, Upper Pomeroon River was discovered at approximately 6.30 am yesterday.
The man, the police said, was last seen alive last Thursday when he borrowed a paddle boat to transport shovel sticks to Charity. However, the same boat, minus the sticks, was discovered on Saturday. Henry’s body is awaiting a post-mortem examination and the police are continuing investigations into the circumstances leading to his death. (Staff/Stabroek News)
