Police dismiss Kaieteur News kidnapping article as untrue
Stabroek News
November 12, 2002
The police have completely refuted an article about a supposed kidnapping reported in Sunday’s Kaieteur News, describing it as sensational.
The police force was referring to the article captioned, `Son of Kuru Kuru Logger kidnapped’ which was carried on page 11 of Sunday’s Kaieteur News and was the lead headline on that edition’s front page.
According to a release from the Police Public Relations Department, the force “wishes to stringently refute the entire episode, which the force deems erroneous as it only serves to create further stress and tension.”
Kaieteur News yesterday said that the information had come from a usually reliable police source.
The police, in the release, said that what was reported to have been a kidnapping, was, in fact, a private matter over some monies owed.
“On Saturday, November 9 [at about 7 pm], the son in question and his father were allegedly travelling along the Mabura trail when they were stopped by another businessman,” the release stated. The police said the report reaching them was that the son owed the businessman money and despite being asked several times, had never paid up.
The police said, “during the meeting of these two men, in the trail, the son agreed to sign a note acknowledging to honour his commitment within a certain period of time. The businessman, wanting to ensure that the son really did so, accompanied the son to a nearby premises where this was done. Later, both the son and this businessman returned to the truck where the son handed over a chain-saw to the businessman.”
The businessman had reportedly requested to keep the chain-saw as security until the son had honoured his obligation.
“The allegations of violence during this incident will not go unnoticed, as notwithstanding, the private nature of the transactions, the police force will continue its investigations to ascertain the entire narrative of events so that the integrity of the law can take its course. Certainly, there was no kidnapping or abduction during the incident. The Guyana Police Force is asking for an immediate correction of the story and [is asking] that in future, caution be exercised lest the society is poisoned with sensationalised untruths.”
