Police maintained patrols in the area after violent incidents Saturday in which protesters attacked vehicles attacked and seriously injured a driver who was hospitalised.

Police yesterday had up a road block warning vehicles not to proceed further on the Railway Embankment across which protesters dug a four-foot wide ditch Saturday.

The Saturday protests followed the death of Shaka Blair of Middle Walk, Buxton.

Blair, 33, was killed when Police ranks visited his home to arrest him for questioning in connection with the spate of hijacking and robberies in and around Georgetown last Easter Monday night, Police said in a statement Saturday.

Police said Blair's fingerprints were found on vehicles hijacked by bandits to commit robberies that night.

Based on photographs supplied, Police said he was identified by the victims as one of the bandits who had committed "acts" of robberies and other criminal activities on the night of April 1, 2002.

Blair's wife Susan and her two-year-old son Shakiem, were in the house when the incident occurred but she declined to talk about the shooting to the Chronicle Saturday.

But the main Opposition People's National Congress Reform (PNC/R), in a statement, said it had received a "first hand report" of the occurrences which resulted in the shooting to death of Blair.

It said Blair was a "community leader" and charged that he was killed at the hands of a senior Police Officer from the special Police Anti-Crime (Black Clothes) Unit.

"There is undisputed evidence that the police Black Clothes Squad kicked the door and in the presence of his wife and child shot the man in cold blood," the PNC/R alleged.

The Railway Embankment road yesterday remained closed to vehicular traffic in the vicinity of Buxton as large boulders and logs were still across the road and obstructing the free flow of traffic.

Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. David Ramnarine told the Chronicle there were "no signs of any unlawful activities" in the Buxton area yesterday.

"Police patrols are evident and the area was relatively quiet," he said.

In scenes reminiscent of the East Coast disturbances after the March 19 general elections last year, the ditch was dug across the Railway Embankment road in Buxton on Saturday, preventing vehicles from using it.

Police said criminal elements attacked and damaged several vehicles on Saturday and a driver, who was seriously injured in the head was hospitalised.

Traffic had to be diverted to the other East Coast main road and the ditch damage forced organisers to call off the 'Go Guyana Run' marathon scheduled along the Embankment Road for yesterday morning.

Police said that acting on information received, ranks visited Blair's house and attempted to arrest him but he refused to cooperate and instead discharged a loaded firearm at them.

"As a consequence, Blair was struck and was immediately taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival," a Police statement added.

Police said they recovered a .375 Smith and Wesson Magnum revolver, a quantity of live ammunition and spent shells and a live hand grenade from the scene.

The Police have called on Buxton residents to "dissociate themselves from criminal elements and to adopt lawful means to address any perceived problems."

The Police statement added: "Persons have a right to go about their daily lives and business without fear. Persons who take the law into their own hands must be prepared to face the consequences."

In its statement, the PNC/R said it has, for some time now, been calling repeatedly for an inquiry into the operation of the Guyana Police Force including the activities of the `Black Clothes' group.

It said it has adopted the position that no civilised society "can tolerate any longer or countenance this kind of wanton disregard for human life and human rights."

The party said it wanted a delegation to immediately meet Commissioner of Police, Mr. Floyd McDonald "to demand the immediate arrest and prosecution" of the Senior Superintendent it named in the Buxton shooting and "other perpetrators of this dastardly crime together with dismantling of the squad".

The Police Force Friday increased to $10M the reward for information leading to the capture of the five heavily armed and dangerous prisoners linked to the murder last Tuesday of top anti-crime cop, Superintendent Leon Fraser.

The five have also been implicated in the Easter Monday hijackings and robberies.

Police last week confirmed that the car hidden in the bushes from which Fraser was shot dead was the station wagon hijacked from a Canadian couple in the city around midnight Monday.

According to Police, scientific tests have so far shown that at least one of the five escapees had been in the hijacked car found at Yarowkabra on the Linden-Soesdyke Highway where Fraser was killed.

Thousands of people from all walks of live turned out on Saturday to pay their last respects to Fraser at his funeral on the West Demerara.

The five escapees also killed Prison Officer, Troy Williams, 21, when they broke out of the Georgetown jail on February 23 and shot Woman Prison Officer, Roxanne Whinfield, 36, in the head as they fled. She remains in critical condition in the Georgetown Hospital.

Those on the run are Andrew Douglas, Mark Fraser, Shawn Brown, Troy Dick and Dale More, all linked to the notorious `Blackie' criminal gang.

The `Blackie' ring was led by Linden `Blackie' London who was shot dead when he was cornered in a Police-Army operation in an Eccles, East Bank Demerara guest house in February 1999.