Police detain suspicious men
Search mounted for suspect
By Samantha Alleyne and Kim Lucas
Stabroek News
October 3, 2002
Drama unfolded in Cummings Lodge shortly after noon yesterday as the police and army swooped on a group of men at a workshop after residents sounded warnings about suspicious strangers.
Up to press time, both forces remained mum on the reason for the arrests of the five men. But one of the men who was made to lie on the asphalt road as the police conducted body searches, explained the events leading up to the midday arrest.
Two cars were also searched, and according to the man, only clothing was found.
According to the 39-year-old University of Guyana (UG) worker, everything fell apart for him yesterday when another car slammed into his at about 12:30 p.m. He was travelling east along the railway embankment at the time and was forced to stop.
“I halted at a bridge, while going over a hole and a car ran into my back...I came out to see what took place. My car was okay. The guys came out their car.
There were three of them...they say, ‘Yuh wrong! Yuh mash brakes rash’.”
According to the man, who was driving PDD 238 at the time, the other men insisted that he would have to fix their car. The university worker said that not knowing who the men were, and given the present state of affairs in the country, he agreed.
“I don’t know who is who. Although I know that I was right, I told them let’s go to the mechanic shop to get it looked after. I know the times and I don’t know who these guys are. So I said ok. I had about $6,000 on me...they say let us go to a guy in Cummings Lodge who got a body-work shop. We were speaking to the guy, who just told us the price. I had turned and was telling the guys who ran into the back of my car, ‘Look this man said $10,000, I would give you half the money.’ Then I hear, ‘No f...ing body move!’ When I look around, I saw a set of policemen, with guns all trained,” the man recounted.
He said the law enforcers colourfully told all of them to hit the road.
“Everybody on de f...ing ground. We gun drill you all with holes,” the man said was one of the policemen’s command.
He said at that point, he shouted out that he was a UG worker, while at the same time, throwing himself on the road. The man said this drew more colourful comments from the cops.
“They body searched us and searched the cars. They found nothing. One of the guys had some clothing and they [the cops] were trying to get the guy to say that he was taking the clothes to some bandit. By the time they finish do that, the army was aiming guns at us...”
During that operation and throughout the afternoon, the army’s helicopter hovered overhead.
The man said that one of the ranks asked one of the other three men, “Whey you going with all dat clothes? Duh is bandit clothes, duh is bandit clothes. We got to break up these cells.”
He said the police subsequently escorted them to the station. One of the ranks sat in his car, another accompanied the driver of the other car, while two of the men were placed in the back of a police vehicle.
They were all taken to the Sparendaam Police Station.
“They released me after the intervention of my boss. One [of the other men] was on the bench when I left, but I didn’t know where the other two were”.
Stabroek News was told that the law enforcement officers cordoned off a number of places in the area as they arrested the men who were made to drive their cars to the station.
There were several reports that the apprehension of the men preceded a shooting at the gate of the University of Guyana, which is located far from the scene.
These reports were dispelled by the security guard on duty who informed students that there was nothing to fear.
Some students were still skeptical on seeing the GDF and GPF ranks in the area with the army helicopter flying low.
This newspaper was informed that residents had observed two men on a bicycle “scouting the area” and appearing to be suspicious.
It is understood that the men are known to the residents as bandits since it is said that they have committed a number of robberies in and around the area.
A third man was also seen in the street walking around without a shirt and a cutlass in his hand and this caused residents to call the police at the Sparendaam Police Station but the ranks took a while to arrive on the scene.
According to reports, about half an hour after the three men were observed, the residents saw a gold-coloured car, HA 7860, with four men driving through the street. At the time, Stabroek News understands, three of the men were sitting upright while a third was crouched in the back seat and residents could not see his face.
Reports said that the men drove through the area and the residents again called the police but still did not get a response.
The men left but later returned in the same car and reportedly approached a yard in the area and attempted to open the gate which was locked at the time. It is understood that after spending sometime at the gate, the men jumped into their car and left.
It was upon their third visit to the street that the men became involved in the accident with the other car.
Up to 7 pm yesterday police barricades were in place on the public road and also on the embankment in front of the University of Guyana access road as an apparent search for wanted man ‘Inspector Gadget’ was stepped up. The army helicopter periodically circled the area.
One of the army patrols was positioned in front of the UG gate, while another one was seen at Fourth street. Police and GDF ranks also patrolled along the streets of nearby Industry, both on the public road and on the embankment.
Later in the evening the army mobile patrols were removed, but the helicopter continued to circle every now and then, flying low around the UG area. The police were kept in place and could be seen decked out in full combat gear. On the embankment, the ranks, all attached to the Tactical Services Unit (TSU) were observed adopting defensive positions along the edges of the road with their guns aimed at every passing vehicle.
Two officers manned the barricade while four others hid behind a white canter truck, their guns also at the ready. On the public road, the ranks there were less enthusiastic about the operation since about eight of them were seen sitting on the seawall with their guns resting on their laps. Two officers manning a barrier also looked lethargic.
At around 5.45 pm the tension began to mount along the embankment when four men in a grey car drove past the police barrier. The men were allowed to pass, but a little while later, perhaps as an afterthought, five TSU ranks left in a van following the car. They managed to intercept it a few metres before it crossed the bridge that separates Plaisance from Vryheid Lust and the four occupants in the full view of commuters and residents were made to lie face down on the road while the police body searched them.
While the men were lying on the ground a sizeable crowd converged on the scene and vehicles were made to park on the road and wait. The four men, two wearing dreadlocks, were then allowed to get up. Later three of them were placed in a police vehicle while the driver remained in the car with a police officer. The policemen opened up the car checking in every conceivable corner but nothing illegal was unearthed. Leaving Vryheid’s Lust the car was escorted by the police vehicle carrying the three men while the fourth transported a police officer to team up with their colleagues at UG. When the four men arrived there they were subjected to another search and the car was also checked again.
The police detained the men for a little more than three minutes at this point before sending them away. Earlier in the day, it had been reported that Premium Sukraj, known as ‘Inspector Gadget’ had been spotted in the Industry/Cummings Lodge area. Sukraj is wanted in connection with rape and a series of robberies. (Additional reporting by Nigel Williams)