NO serious effort was taken in the initial stage of the investigation into the plot to assassinate President David Granger, Senior Superintendent Rishi Dass, told a Commission of Inquiry (CoI) on Tuesday.

Dass said rather, there were attempts to discredit the claim. Dass, the Deputy Crime Chief, appeared before the commission which is enquiring into the alleged plot to assassinate the President. Earlier in the year, Andrif Gillard had alleged that Nizam Khan asked him to kill President Granger in 2015, an allegation Khan has denied. According to Gillard, he had approached Khan to loan him $6M, but Khan instead offered him $7M, noting that he would not have to repay the money if he killed the President.

When he appeared before the commissioner, Retired Assistant Commissioner of Police Paul Slowe, the senior superintendent said during the investigation in the month of April, the Crime Chief, Wendell Blanhum, proceeded on five days’ leave, and as such he assumed the acting position. Upon taking up the mantle, Commissioner Slowe questioned whether Dass had seen any effort by the investigators to corroborate the story told by Gillard and was told no.

The senior superintendent explained that based on the report filed, Gillard and Nizam Khan were the only ones present when the alleged plot was discussed.
According to him, while acting as crime chief, he instructed the investigators to return to the scene where the alleged plot was discussed to gather additional information. It was put to Dass by Commissioner Slowe that “a month after…you saw no effort made on the part of the investigating officers to get people who would have been able to support the story told by Gillard,” and he responded in the positive.

“Let’s talk about the witnesses now to discredit the story, you saw evidence of this?” Commissioner Slowe asked and again was told “yes,” while making reference to Leon Baldeo and Lloyd Adams. Baldeo had contended that Gillard had offered him $50, 000 to support his story. “But you didn’t find it strange, as a seasoned man, efforts were made to discredit the story but no effort made until you instructed to try and get people to support the story? Isn’t that strange?” Commissioner Slowe further questioned and again Dass responded in the affirmative.

That aside, the deputy crime chief told the commission that he had known Gillard and Khan prior to the allegation. It was explained that while working at the Grove Police Station in the early 1990s, both Gillard and Khan were known for assisting the Guyana Police Force.
Back then, they were “friends” to the police, but Dass made it clear that they could no longer be considered his friends. “Nizam’s brother, Imran Khan, I know him by seeing him,” the senior superintendent posited. He, however, did not know Baldeo and Adams prior to the allegation.

While cross-examining Dass, retired Chief Justice, Ian Chang, who is representing the interest of the police, enquired whether in 2016 Gillard had told him Nizam Khan went into his taxi service and removed two radio sets.
“I can’t recall,” Dass responded and again Chang questioned whether Gillard had informed him that Nizam Khan had threatened to pull his gun on him, and was again told no. “He didn’t say that, he said Nizam tried to shoot him, that’s all he said,” the senior superintendent said. Additionally, Dass made it clear that he was never told by Gillard about the plot to assassinate the President.

Dass told the commission too that he was uncertain whether Baldeo and Adams voluntarily went to the police and gave information or whether they were sought after by the police. “The police did their investigation, but they came and give statements to the police, but I don’t know how the police came to take statements from them,” Dass said.
Attorney-at-Law, Christopher Ram, had also grilled Dass, questioning if part of what he had presented to the commission was “hearsay” and was told yes.

Ram sought to make it clear that “hearsay” is of no evidential value. “My understanding is that the role of an investigator is to find facts, is that correct? It is not to corroborate, is that correct?” Ram asked and was told “yes” by Dass.
However, in a report compiled by Dass, he had concluded that based on the facts gathered, Gillard’s allegation though very serious, was indeed a “malicious one.”