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June 17, 2006
Suriname to try Khan & Co.
If offences committed - Prosecutor General
In the wake of the largest drug bust there this year, Suriname yesterday declared it would try fugitive businessman Roger Khan and others if it was found that they had broken laws. Sources in Georgetown yesterday said that the United States is also keen to prosecute Khan following his indictment in New York this year on a charge of conspiring to import drugs.
In Thursday's operation in Paramaribo, Khan and three other Guyanese: Paul Rodrigues, Sean Belfield and Lloyd Roberts, and eight Surinamese were held. The police also confiscated 213 kilos of cocaine.
In an interview with the Surinamese newspaper de Ware Tijd (DWT) yesterday, Suriname's Prosecutor-General Subhas Punwasi said "From at least one of the other three Guyanese suspects I can confirm that he is an ex-policeman.
The two others we believe are either in active police service or in the Guyanese intelligence agencies". Sources in Georgetown said this is because when the Guyanese men were arrested in Paramaribo, two of them were passed off as if they were still active in Guyana's security and intelligence services.
According to DWT, the Prosecutor-General categorically ruled out an extradition of the Guyanese suspects to either Guyana or the United States if the men had committed offences on Surinamese soil. Wanted bulletins had been issued by the Guyanese police for Khan and Rodrigues.
DWT said that at this stage it is also unclear if the US will seek extradition from Suriname. Tom Walsh, Charge d'Affaires at the US embassy speaking through Public Relations officer Cliff Djamin said, that formally the embassy wasn't notified yet of Khan's arrest. "So we can't comment whether the United States will seek an extradition or not", said Djamin.
DWT, as reported in yesterday's Stabroek News said the police made the arrest and the drug find at two different locations in the capital Paramaribo. At the first house in a residential area a few minutes drive from downtown, 109 kilos of cocaine were seized by the police. At the second spot that was raided police confiscated 104 kilos cocaine and an automatic weapon.
Initially six Surinamese and one Guyanese were apprehended. As the investigation progressed the other five suspects were apprehended. If found guilty the suspects face a jail term of up to 18 years. "This is a major case and we will go for the highest sentence", Punwasi told DWT.
Commissioner Mathoera-Hussainali, Head of the Judicial Department of the Suriname Police Force told DWT that the suspects didn't resist arrest. More arrests were not ruled out, she said. "This is a big case and we are still following some leads. We want to catch all the persons who are involved in this gang", she told DWT.
Prosecutor-General Punwasi said a Guyana-Suriname gang was suspected of trafficking cocaine from Guyana to Suriname and those apprehended were believed to be a part of this. He further told DWT that the authorities were following the moves of this organisation for some time "and when the time was right we have hit them". A small quantity of crack-cocaine was also found, Commissioner Mathoera-Hussainali told DWT.
Commissioner Mathoera-Hussainali and the Prosecutor General told DWT that the police were not looking for Khan in particular, but just acted on information the police force had received about drug related activities.
"When we made the bust at the first place, information has led us to the second address. It was at this place that we have arrested Mr Khan and the other Guyanese", said the Prosecutor-General.
Jurisdiction
Meanwhile a US embassy official here who asked not to be named told Stabroek News yesterday that because Khan was arrested in another jurisdiction, the US Embassy in Georgetown would not have much to say on the matter. He however indicated that the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) in Washington has been in contact with its officers in Suriname on the matter.
The official said the US would no doubt allow the Surinamese authorities to carry out their investigations before any move is made to have Khan extradited to the US.
It is not clear whether local authorities have any keen interest in Khan returning here and up to yesterday officials would only say that they are allowing their Dutch counterparts to carry out their investigations.
Local police had published wanted bulletins for Khan, Rodrigues and two others in March following the discovery of illegal items on their properties during a series of joint services raids. The men had challenged the wanted bulletins through their lawyers. The matter is before the courts.
Noting that the arrest of Khan, Rodrigues and the others was a well-coordinated operation, the embassy official indicated that the US DEA in Suriname might have had a hand in advising the Surinamese authorities on how to move. The official said too that the capture of Khan is as a result of good intelligence gathering and co-ordination, something, which he said was lacking in Guyana.
Meanwhile, a police source in Paramaribo confirmed to Stabroek News that among the persons arrested in the raids was a Surinamese who heads a criminal organisation there. Asked what would be the next step for the men in custody, the source said that authorities will investigate to ascertain whether all four Guyanese are connected to the drugs and weapon find. He said if they are, then they would be prosecuted by Suriname authorities but if not they will be deported to Guyana. The source added that Khan is on Interpol's wanted list.
Contacted for a comment, one of Khan's lawyers, Vic Puran said that he had not been brought up to date with the matter. According to the attorney, his colleague, Glenn Hanoman had travelled to Suriname early yesterday morning, but he had not made contact with him as yet.
Resources
Khan, 35, fled from the US in the late 90's after he was fingered in a gun case. Since 2002 when he was held near a large cache of weapons at Good Hope, Khan has gained notoriety. He recently admitted that he used his own resources to fight crime in 2002-3 and worked closely with the crime fighting section of the police force. Additionally, Khan said that he had employed a network of ex-convicts and members of the disbanded Police Target Special Squad to work as informants and bodyguards for him.
Since he was indicted by a US Grand Jury for conspiring to import cocaine into the USA, Khan has been releasing statements apparently to muster public support and to stave off any attempt to hand him over to the US authorities. He has so far criticized the US government, the main opposition, PNCR and the police force and the army. He is also thought to be behind the releasing of taped conversations allegedly between Commissioner of Police, Winston Felix and other persons.
Belfield was a police constable back in 2002 when he Khan and Haroon Yahya were found with the cache of weapons at Good Hope. All three were acquitted in the magistrate's court. Soon after, Belfield was dismissed from the police force, but from all appearances he maintained close ties with key members of the now disbanded Target Special Squad of which he was a key member.
Back in February this year he had reported that his five-year-old daughter Tiffany Belfield was kidnapped from the Kingston Nursery School. Commis-sioner of Police, Felix later told reporters that the child's abduction was staged. Since then much has not been said about Belfield but many knew that he was connected with Khan.
Rodrigues, a well known detective during his days in the police force has been affiliated with Khan for a number of years. He was absent from duties for a number of months when police swooped on a house in Bel Air and arrested him and other men with a cache of arms and ammunition. That matter was also taken to the court but the men were all set free. On March 29, the police issued an arrest warrant for him, Khan, Ricardo Rodrigues and Gerald Perreira after raids on their properties unearthed a number of illegal items. (Stabroek News)
Suriname will not extradite Roger Khan
Prosecutor-General
GUYANESE fugitive businessman Shaheed ‘Roger’ Khan, named by the United States as a drug lord and nabbed in a sting operation in Suriname Thursday, will not be extradited, a top official in the neighbouring country said yesterday.
And in another startling twist in the broiling Roger Khan saga, Suriname Prosecutor-General Subhas Punwasi said that among the 12 persons arrested in the major drugs bust here are Guyanese still in the Guyana Police Force or intelligence agencies here.
“From at least one of the other three Guyanese suspects I can confirm that he is an ex-policeman. The two others we believe are either in active police service or in the Guyanese intelligence agencies”, Punwasi told the `de Ware Tijd’ newspaper in Suriname.
Khan and three other Guyanese were among 12 people arrested in the biggest drug bust, which netted 213 kilos of cocaine, in the Dutch colony so far for this year, ‘de Ware Tijd’ reported.
The arrests by a joint Police SWAT-team and units of the Narcotics Brigade took place at two locations just outside downtown Paramaribo. Mr. Punwasi yesterday confirmed to ‘de Ware Tijd’ that Khan is among the detainees.
According to sources, Paul Rodrigues and Sean Belfield, two ex-Guyanese cops, are among the detainees.
The identity of the fourth Guyanese detained is still under investigation since he didn’t have identification papers and allegedly entered Suriname illegally. The confirmation of Khan, Rodrigues and Belfield is as a result of documentation retrieved by the police when the men were caught.
Punwasi also confirmed that this was a Guyana-Suriname gang which was trafficking cocaine from Guyana to Suriname. He told `de Ware Tijd’ that the Suriname authorities had been following the moves of this organisation for quite a while now “and when the time was right we hit them”.
According to Commissioner Mathoera-Hussainali, Head of the Judicial Department of the Suriname Police Force, the suspects did not resist arrest. More arrests were not ruled out, she said. “This is a big case and we are still following some leads. We want to catch all the persons who are involved in this gang”, Mathoera-Hussainali told `de Ware Tijd’.
Punwasi categorically ruled out an extradition of the Guyanese suspects to either Guyana or the United States if these countries might seek their extradition. “If Mr Khan and the other Guyanese detainees have violated Surinamese laws they will be prosecuted by a Surinamese court”, said the prosecutor.
The U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, unsealed an indictment on May 3 last, which charges that he conspired to import cocaine into the U.S. between January 2001 and March 2006. Tom Walsh, Charge d’affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Suriname, speaking through Public Relations Officer Cliff Djamin, yesterday said the embassy up to then had not formally been notified of Khan’s arrest. “So we can’t comment whether the United States will seek an extradition or not”, said Djamin.
Police made the arrests and the drug find Thursday at two different locations in the capital Paramaribo. At the first house in a residential area a few minutes drive from downtown Paramaribo, 109 kilos of cocaine were seized by the police squads. Another 104 kilos of cocaine and an automatic gun were found when the police raided a house in Franchepane Straat, Zorg-en-Hoop, also in Paramaribo.
Initially, six Surinamese nationals and one Guyanese were arrested and the other five were held as the investigation progressed. If found guilty, the suspects face a jail term of up to 18 years. “This is a major case and we will go for the highest sentence”, said Punwasi.
In addition to the cocaine, a small quantity of crack-cocaine was also found, Mathoera-Hussainali said. Police in Guyana issued wanted bulletins for Khan and Rodrigues and were looking for Khan in connection with the theft of 30 AK-47 rifles from the Guyana Defence Force Camp Ayanganna headquarters in Georgetown earlier this year.
Since then Khan and several other persons connected to him were on the run and rumours were that they went into hiding in Suriname.
Mathoera-Hussainali and Punwasi said the Suriname police were not looking for Khan in particular, but had acted on information the Police Force had received about drug related activities of certain persons. “When we made the bust at the first place, information led us to the second address. It was at this place that we arrested Mr Khan and the other Guyanese”, Punwasi told `de Ware Tijd’.
Although Khan was not at the address where the cocaine was actually found, police have enough information to link him to this case, said the prosecutor.
Asked whether Guyanese Police officers had travelled to Suriname to assist in the confirmation of the identity of Khan and his other accomplices, Punwasi said no, and that the Surinamese Police have made no contact with their counterparts here, as this is a Suriname case. He, however, did not rule out the possibility of making contact at a later stage.
The Guyana Chronicle learnt that in addition to Suriname wanting to prosecute Khan, there may be a glitch in the U.S. seeking to extradite him because of the absence of an extradition treaty between the two countries. An arrangement exists with Interpol, the international police organisation, and speculation is that any move to remove Khan may be through that avenue.
Meanwhile, one of Khan’s two attorneys here, Glenn Hanoman travelled to Suriname early yesterday in the hope of meeting his client. Reports last night were that he had not yet met Khan (Guyana Cronicle)
June 5, 2006
Roger Khan challenges Joint Services release
FIGHTING BACK: Shaheed `Roger’ Khan
He also charged that Guyana was “in the midst of the creeping stages of a military coup”.
In a shocking twist in the hunt for the high-powered AK-47 rifles stolen from Army headquarters, the Joint Services Saturday night did not name Khan, but announced they are checking links that a criminal drug enterprise recently began recruiting ex-Police and soldiers to undertake a violent rampage to create instability in the country.
“Investigators are working to establish the accuracy of new information that this group has over the past two weeks embarked on recruitment of persons, most of whom have had law enforcement and military backgrounds. It is felt that the recruitment drive is part of a larger plan to create instability through acts of criminal violence against innocent civilians,” the Joint Services stated.
The Joint Services said one of the stolen AK-47 rifles was discovered at Enterprise, East Coast Demerara and two suspects, whose leader is on the run from the United States, was arrested. The gun find was linked to the men who Thursday terrorised residents of Nonpariel and Enterprise and shot dead Ramjit Rampersaud.
The Joint Services did not name “the fugitive from U.S. justice” who they said the gun find was linked to but the only local person wanted by the U.S. at this time in connection with drug trafficking is Khan.
In a statement emailed to the media last night, Khan claimed the Joint Services release was a “highly speculative statement that is intended to lead the general public up the garden path to someone they described as a fugitive from U.S. justice”.
“It is clear from the description that the statement hopes to implicate me in more ways than one. The Joint Services release is neither a release nor does it truly emanate from the Joint Services. It is a GDF (Guyana Defence Force) statement that does not set any factual or evidential basis for the conclusion that they hope to conjure up for public consumption. In this sense it is clearly propagandist in nature and it is very telling that the investigators were `working to ESTABLISH (not verify) the accuracy’ of this information while still making bold pronouncements”, Khan argued.
He said the “insinuations of the Joint Services that I am planning to destabilize my country go against every principle which I stand for. It is because of my fierce stand against the `armed African resistance fighters’ and my determination to expose the conspiracy involving the American Government, PNCR, Guyana Defence Force and Commissioner of Police that I find myself being attacked by these very entities.
I have placed my life and that of my family and friends in grave danger in defence of the defenceless; what would I gain from an unstable country? It was because of my intervention in 02/03 that many innocent lives were saved; and again beginning with the meeting with the American Embassy on March 06th, 2006 when I naively thought that I might solicit the assistance of the Americans to intervene to prevent the further loss of innocent lives.”
The U.S. is in the process of seeking the extradition of Khan to face charges that he trafficked cocaine into that country. Police here also say they want him for questioning. The U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, unsealed a grand jury indictment on May 3 which charges that Khan conspired to import drugs between January 2001 and March 2006.
The Joint Services said the rusted high-powered AK-47 rifle was discovered in Enterprise Saturday during a Joint Services operation. Sources yesterday said it was found in an incomplete wooden house on the Enterprise Railway Embankment.
The operation, which the Joint Services said was conducted in the Melanie Damishana, Enterprise, and Nonpariel areas, was launched to pursue leads that linked two named suspects to the robbery and fatal shooting at Nonpariel and Enterprise Thursday night. In addition to the rifle, three magazines and 90 matching rounds of ammunition were also recovered, the Joint Services said in the statement.
Prior to the discovery of the weapon, five males and one female were arrested while a generator and bicycle reportedly stolen during the robbery, were recovered from an abandoned building west of Melanie and north of the railway embankment, the statement said.
Sources said victims of the Nonpariel robbery yesterday identified a man, who hails from Victoria, East Coast Demerara, as one of the robbers during an identification parade at Police headquarters, Eve Leary, Georgetown. However, they said he was not among the suspects picked up at Melanie Damishana during the Joint Services raid on Saturday.
The sources said the Victoria man was picked up by the police early yesterday morning just for the identification parade and was in custody up to press time.
Khan charged that the “planting of evidence on persons and properties connected to me by members of the Joint Services will be forthcoming. Anyone who dares to challenge the `conspiracy’ will be harassed and become victims of attacks by military ranks, as was done (yesterday) on the home of former policeman, Paul Rodrigues.”
According to Khan, a letter by Rodrigues was published in yesterday’s Kaieteur News “challenging the legality of military operations in our society”.
He contended that as a result of the publication, Rodrigues’ home was invaded at 05:00 h by “military ranks demanding to know the whereabouts of Mr. Rodrigues, threatening his wife and children with incarceration. No warrant was produced and his wife was told to tell her husband to desist from any further letters to the press.”
“We are in the midst of the creeping stages of a military coup”, Khan alleged, adding that the “evidence is clear for those of us who want see.”
“All of the operations of the so-called Joint Services are intended to hunt me down and execute me if found; the wanted bulletin is the precursor to my execution. I am asking the government to pay closer attention of the modus operandi of the military. Where are the voices of so many in our society that are seeing what is going on?”
On Thursday evening, Rampersaud and his sister Seuranie Rampersaud were sitting on a bench awaiting transportation when one of three gunmen casually went up and sat between them, and shot the man in his chest at close range.
Shortly before, five men carrying AK-47 rifles terrorised worshippers at the Nonpariel Hindu mandir and attacked a next door business place. The gang appeared just after 18:00 h when the mandir on Sixth Street was filled with worshippers at the usual Thursday night service and held them up.
The gunmen’s target was the Puran family who live next door to the mandir. One of the five gunmen stayed with the worshippers while his accomplices went over to the unsuspecting family. At the time, Puran was not at home as he had left to pick up the pandit, but his wife Pam and children Peter and Polly were inside when the bandits barged into their home through an unlocked door.
Residents said they beat and terrorised them before leaving with an undisclosed sum of money, jewellery, an electricity generator and other articles. It is believed that the same group of AK-47 bandits shot and killed Ramjit after leaving Nonpariel. The 30 AK-47 rifles and five pistols were discovered missing from Army headquarters, Camp Ayanganna early this year. (Guyana Cronicle)
Joint Services operations
Ex-Army officer detained
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SOLDIERS in front of the house in South Ruimveldt, Georgetown from where they detained ex-Army officer Oliver Hinckson, and James Gibson, both of whom were wanted for questioning in the disappearance of high-powered weapons from Army headquarters.
The Joint Services said a .38 pistol and 12 matching rounds, along with 27 12-gauge shotgun cartridges were found in the 115 Aubrey Barker, South Ruimveldt, Georgetown house they were holed up in. Their arrests came as the Joint Services searched private homes in the housing schemes of embattled businessman Roger Khan, who is wanted by the United States on charges he trafficked cocaine into that country.
The Army’s Military Criminal Investigation Department had issued wanted bulletins for Hinckson and Gibson in March and they were arrested at 115 Aubrey Barker Road, South Ruimveldt yesterday afternoon.
They were among nine persons the Joint Services held for questioning yesterday after conducting a series of operations in which several items were seized, including arms and ammunition, vehicles, a boat, a computer and a small safe.
SOLDIERS in front of the house in South Ruimveldt, Georgetown from where they detained ex-Army officer Oliver Hinckson, and James Gibson, both of whom were wanted for questioning in the disappearance of high-powered weapons from Army headquarters.
Yesterday’s operations began in the early hours of the morning with a cordon and search at Khan’s Hibiscus Place housing scheme, Blankenburg, West Coast Demerara. At the scheme four persons were detained and a computer and a private motor car seized, the Joint Services stated in a press release.
Following leads the operation moved to Khan’s Dream Works Housing Development at Farm, East Bank Demerara. At that location two persons were detained, and a 17-foot go fast boat, a canter truck, and a small safe were seized, the Joint Services said.
Shortly thereafter a search was conducted at the house Hinckson and Gibson were in, leading to their arrests. One person was also detained at 35 Guyhoc Park, Greater Georgetown, the Joint Services stated. The Joint Services expressed its gratitude to members of the public who have provided “invaluable” information in its pursuit of persons for whom wanted bulletins have been issued. (Guyana Cronicle)
The Joint Services have encamped in this incomplete house behind Melanie Damishana. The house is a few metres away from where the army recovered one of its 30 missing AK-47 rifles on Saturday. (Ken Moore photo)
Police ballistics experts said from all indications the army's AK-47 rifle, which was found in a clump of bushes on Saturday at Enterprise is a brand new weapon; they are still working to ascertain whether it was ever used. Stabroek News understands that the ballistics test should be completed by today.
And as residents of Enterprise prepare to bury their dead today, chairman of the village said they are not mobilizing against domestic terrorism nor are they linked to any criminal group. They have complained too over the exact location where the weapon was recovered.
A major dispute has erupted over exactly where the weapon was found. As far as the residents of Enterprise are concerned it was not in their village, but in Melanie Damishana. The Joint Ser-vices, in a press release issued on Saturday said: "One of the missing AK-47 rifles was recovered in the Enterprise, ECD area during a Joint Services operation."
The release further stated that the operation, which was conducted in Melanie, Enterprise, and Non Pareil, was launched to pursue leads that linked two named suspects to the robbery and fatal shooting incident at Non Pareil and Enterprise last Thursday.
The village chairman, who asked that his name not be mentioned, told Stabroek News that the railway embankment separates Enter-prise, which is on the southern side, from Melanie Damishana to the north.
Stabroek News was however told that the weapon was actually found in a clump of bushes just on the periphery of Enterprise. Prior to the discovery of the weapon on Saturday, five males and one female were arrested while a generator and a bicycle, allegedly stolen during last Thursday night's robbery were recovered from an abandoned building west of Melanie and north of the railway embankment.
The house is just a few metres away from where the weapon was found. Currently, joint services ranks have occupied the abandoned building and during a visit by this newspaper yesterday they were also seen in a few half-finished structures.
The humble dwelling of Ramjeet Rampersaud of Enterprise who was gunned down last Thursday by bandits.
Ranks at the scene told this newspaper that since the weapon find they have been posted at the location. Further searches have been conducted in the general area where the rifle was found and also other places.
The joint services had also said that the two suspects they were hunting for on Saturday are known to be linked to a narcotics criminal enterprise that is led by a fugitive from US justice.
Fugitive businessman Roger Shaheed Khan issued a statement on Sunday saying that the joint services were trying to link him to domestic terrorism, which he dismissed.
According to the joint services, investigators are working to establish the accuracy of new information that a group has over the past two weeks embarked on recruitment of persons, most of whom have had law enforcement and military backgrounds. It is felt, the statement went on to say, that the recruitment drive is part of a larger plan to create instability through acts of criminal violence against innocent civilians.
Meanwhile, Enterprise village chairman said his community was very upset with the apparent linking of the village to criminal violence. He said from the reports he received the five men who carried out the robberies in Non Pareil last Thursday and the ones who killed Ramjeet Rampersaud, while he was sitting with his sister near a culvert in Enterprise are gunmen from Bare Root.
The chairman mentioned the name of a notorious figure, who was only recently acquitted on a murder charge, as one of the men who killed Rampersaud. "They were other people on a bridge linking Bare Root and Enterprise on the night Ramjeet was killed and they positively identified the figure," the chairman said.
He said he himself knew the figure well and this information has been passed on to the police. The notorious figure hails from Bare Root, but had spent most of his time in recent years in Buxton.
The chairman said Enterprise is trying to keep the peace, although killings such as the one on Thursday has caused tempers to flare.
"We have a vigilante group and that is all, we cannot confront the criminal these days because they have high-powered weapons, but we aren't mobilizing or linking up with anyone," the chairman declared. Asked whether the village would accept assistance from Khan, who admitted that he helped fight crime in 2002-3, the chairman said no, adding that Khan allegedly has links to the underworld and the village was not into that.
He said Enterprise had a few men who would go over to Bare Root to buy drugs and he would not rule out the possibility of some of them linking up with criminals there. "We have petty thieves and drugs men in this village too, but I don't know of any who is part of a criminal enterprise," the chairman said.
He told this newspaper that he was certain that the motive for killing Rampersaud was not robbery, but rather to create fear among the Indian communities in the area. "But we must find other means to counter this, rather than picking up guns and going after persons of another ethnic group we have to find solutions and live in peace and love."
However, he added, villagers would not always sit down and be overrun by criminals; at some point residents would stand up and defend themselves. Enterprise, Non Pareil, Annandale and other surrounding communities have become targets for marauding gangs operating out of Buxton and Bare Root over recent years.
Despite promises of protection government has failed to deliver and residents continue to live in fear. The chairman said the government was doing a good job in office, but in the area of security it was failing. Rampersaud, who was shot in his chest would be cremated today. (Guyana Cronicle)
AK-47 gang may be linked to rampage plot
Joint Services
AK-47, ammo, generator found
THE AK-47 recovered by the Joint Services yesterday. (Photos, courtesy Joint Services)
IN A shocking twist in the hunt for the high-powered weapons stolen from Army headquarters, the Joint Services last evening announced they are checking links that a criminal drug enterprise recently began recruiting ex-Police and soldiers to undertake a violent rampage to create instability in the country.
“Investigators are working to establish the accuracy of new information that this group has over the past two weeks embarked on recruitment of persons, most of whom have had law enforcement and military backgrounds. It is felt that the recruitment drive is part of a larger plan to create instability through acts of criminal violence against innocent civilians,” the Joint Services stated.
The announcement came after one of the stolen weapons was discovered at Enterprise, East Coast Demerara and two suspects, whose leader is on the run from the United States, was arrested. The gun find was linked to the men who Thursday terrorised residents of Nonpariel and Enterprise and shot dead Ramjit Rampersaud.
THE ammunition found by the Joint Services
The Joint Services did not name “the fugitive from U.S. justice” who they said the gun find was linked to but the only local person wanted by the U.S. at this time in connection with drug trafficking is embattled businessman Roger Khan.
The U.S. is in the process of seeking the extradition of Khan to face charges that he trafficked cocaine into that country.
Police here also say they want him for questioning. The U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, unsealed a grand jury indictment on May 3 which charges that Khan conspired to import drugs between January 2001 and March 2006.
The rusted high-powered AK-47 rifle was discovered in Enterprise yesterday during a Joint Services operation. The operation, which the Joint Services said was conducted in the Melanie, Enterprise, and Nonpariel areas, was launched to pursue leads that linked two named suspects to the robbery and fatal shooting at Nonpariel and Enterprise Thursday night.
In addition to the rifle, three magazines and 90 matching rounds of ammunition were also recovered, the Joint Services said in a statement. Prior to the discovery of the weapon, five males and one female were arrested while a generator and bicycle reportedly stolen during the robbery, were recovered from an abandoned building west of Melanie and north of the railway embankment, the statement said.
On Thursday evening, Rampersaud and his sister Seuranie Rampersaud were sitting on a bench awaiting transportation when one of three gunmen casually went up and sat between them, and shot the man in his chest at close range. The murdered Ramjit is survived by a 13-year-old daughter, 11 siblings and scores of relatives.
Shortly before, five men carrying AK-47 rifles terrorised worshippers at the Nonpariel Hindu mandir and attacked a next door business place. The gang appeared just after 18:00 h when the mandir on Sixth Street was filled with worshippers at the usual Thursday night service and held them up. The gunmen’s target was the Puran family who live next door to the mandir. One of the five gunmen stayed with the worshippers while his accomplices went over to the unsuspecting family.
At the time, Puran was not at home as he had left to pick up the pandit, but his wife Pam and children Peter and Polly were inside when the bandits barged into their home through an unlocked door. Residents said they beat and terrorised them before leaving with an undisclosed sum of money, jewellery, an electricity generator and other articles.
The robbers threatened to shoot Pam and even dealt her some blows about the body after they choked her. She did not hesitate to hand over the money and jewels after they grabbed her teenage daughter and began threatening her son. It is believed that the same group of AK-47 bandits shot and killed Ramjit after leaving Nonpariel.
The 30 AK-47 rifles and five pistols were discovered missing from Army headquarters, Camp Ayanganna early this year. (Guyana Cronicle)
June 3, 2006
Seeks immediate response
Winston FelixPrime Minister Sam Hinds has written Commissioner of Police, Winston Felix asking for an immediate response to certain complaints and accusations being made against him.
No details of the complaints were given in the four-line announcement yesterday afternoon by the Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon but the request by the PM is most likely in relation to a contentious taped recording doing the rounds.
Felix is expected back in the country today and could not be contacted for comment yesterday.
The tape is of a conversation between two men, one of whom sounds like the Police Commissioner. The two are discussing a theft that occurred at a political party's office and at one point one of the voices suggests that drugs be planted on the suspect for the purposes of determining whether she has any of the stolen foreign currency.
This remark has provoked controversy and calls for the Commissioner to be investigated. The tape furore has also taken on sinister connotations as it is believed that the circulation of the recording was a tactical ploy in the tense standoff between the joint services and figures in the underworld. Two tapes allegedly of Felix's conversations have now been circulated.
The first was distributed just days after several businesses connected with businessman Roger Khan were searched as part of the operation to recover the army's 30 missing AK-47s. Khan also took a copy of the tapes to a meeting he had with US FBI and drug enforcement officials at the Ocean View Hotel. The police have issued an arrest warrant for Khan and he has also been indicted on a drug charge in the US. Khan has since been in hiding from the police.
Article 225(4) of the Constitution says that if the prescribed authority advises the President that the question of removing the officer from office ought to investigated, then
a) "the President shall act in accordance with the advice of the Judicial Service Commission, in appointing a tribunal which shall consist of a Chairman and not less than two other members, selected by the Judicial Service Commission from among persons who hold or have held office as a judge of a court having unlimited jurisdiction in civil and criminal matters…"
b) "that tribunal shall enquire into the matter and report on the facts thereof to the President and recommend to him whether the officer ought to be removed under this article".
So presumably if the PM is dissatisfied with the response from Felix to his letter he could trigger this investigation.
Pressure
The commissioner has come under tremendous pressure since the tape came into circulation on Saturday on the heels of the other one, purportedly between him and PNCR member, Basil Williams, earlier this year.
The party official in the conversation is named as 'Mike Johnson'. The conversation began with the two persons discussing the loss of a substantial sum of foreign currency from the office of the leader of the party. The money was allegedly stolen by a secretary, a cleaner and a driver. The man on the tape told the person alleged to be the commissioner that he understood that the cleaner was about to leave the country and could be departing with a substantial amount of money.
A promise was then made to work on the issue immediately. "But what I gan do, I gan call narcotics and put drugs pun she…And leh deh search she, both she hand pieces and dah check-in piece."
Several references on the tape point in the direction of the PNCR being the party at the centre of the discussions. Congress Place has since said that no official of theirs has ever been in any discussion with the commissioner on any investigation or been involved in any plot to plant drugs on anyone.
The PNCR however refused to say whether there was any investigation in the party about the loss of money saying that was a matter for the party members.
The last conversation on the tape appeared to be between the commissioner and the head of the GDF, Chief of Staff Edward Collins, as it commenced with a female stating that the commissioner was calling for the Chief of Staff, and they were discussing a planned briefing at 3 pm the said afternoon to discuss the flood situation with government officials.
"Which is behind time because this thing going on a long time since before I lef heh," the voice sounding like the commissioner said while describing the brief. "That's right, deh late," said the voice sounding like the chief of staff.
"We coulda tek a grip of this thing very early if we know what government is doing, but deh running all over the place, minister going deh, minister going heh, dem ent telling we nothing. Now when dah thing boiling up over dem (Gail) Teixeira (Home Affairs Minister) calling me just now to tell me that the president (Bharrat Jagdeo) in a temper," said the voice sounding like the commissioner.
"Wah he upset about?" asked the one sounding like the chief of staff. "I wan know, because we ent cause dat… we gat it under control. Suh I waiting for he call me in a temper because I in a temper to," the first voice said. "Alright you tek it easy, don't get hot around the collar, it is going to blow off just now," cautioned the second voice.
The first voice then said he had some other things to discuss and the second voice suggested that they meet in his office at 2:30 pm before the 3 pm meeting.
Since the first tape was released on March 20, the Commissioner has avoided the heat by denying his is the voice on the tape and challenging the authenticity of the recordings. However, several persons familiar with Felix's voice say the voice on the tape is most likely his and moreover, matters that fit his movements and events that have recently occurred were discussed.
In the first tape, the conversation between the two persons included a discussion on the Agricola killings and the response time of the police to the crime scene. It also addressed the private sector's view on the response time and a call from a minister after the shooting had started. The conversation also appeared to indicate that the police force deliberately placed blame for the Agricola killings on another person whereas it should have been the Buxton gunmen.
The conversation also mentioned in passing the Ronald Waddell killing, the Shaka Blair shooting in Buxton, the upcoming elections and what would happen if the deadline could not be met, as well as the alleged staged kidnapping of Sean Belfield's daughter.
The conversation opened with a discussion of the settlement of a libel matter and referred to a meeting to be held with someone described as No.1.
Security breach
Still unaddressed is the burning issue of who made the tapes and how. Government and other officials have commented on how serious a security breach this would be but thus far no concrete action has been taken by the government. The US FBI had analysed the first tape several weeks ago to determine how it was made and to authenticate the voices but so far no information has been released on this.
In 2002, Khan and several other persons were detained near to a large cache of arms and with sophisticated equipment that could be used to intercept and trace calls. Khan was later taken to court but acquitted. What became of the sophisticated equipment is unknown but there is a belief that it is still in circulation and could have been employed for the purposes of taping conversations.
Khan has also been making various public statements in an apparent drive to whip up public support and avoid being handed over to US authorities. Through various contacts he has said that he helped the police to fight crime and hired ex-convicts and policemen to carry out various operations. The government has since denied that Khan had been engaged by the security services in the crime fight. (Stabroek News)