A SENIOR employee of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), is calling on the Guyana Police Force to do more than just “try” to apprehend the individuals who publicly assaulted him at a popular city nightspot early Mash Day. Troy Vanooten said he and some friends went to the “Jones and Wuk up” pre-Mash party held in Buxton the night before, and upon leaving the party at around 00:30hrs on Mash morning, he and two of them went to the nightspot in question.
His friends apparently left him alone to go and meet a few of their other friends at the same venue, when a man approached him and, in a rough tone of voice, asked him to stop looking at his girlfriend.
Vanooten claimed he was surprised by this request, as he had no idea what the man was talking about. The man then started to physically assault him about the body. Many of the man’s friends joined in the assault, one of whom lashed Vanooten in the head with a bottle.
Vanooten claimed he was then dragged to the washroom, where he was given a sound thrashing by the entire gang. He was rescued by one of the establishment’s staff, who escorted him to his vehicle and told him to drive away.
He subsequently went to the police station at Alberttown, where he lodged a report. He also went to the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) to seek medical attention for the wounds he sustained, and was subjected to several medical examinations.
The matter was then reported to the police at the Brickdam Police Station later on Mash Day, and the police began their search for the perpetrators, but came up empty-handed.
Vanooten disclosed that he does not know the instigator of the assault personally, but claims he has seen the man around a few places before.
He said the GRA had carried out a raid at a few night clubs the previous day, and he strongly believed that the man acted the way he did because he was upset over those raids. However, Vanooten could not establish whether there was any link between the owners of the nightclub and the men who had accosted him.
He said he wants the police to act with greater dispatch because he fears that his life is at risk. He claims the police are dragging their feet with regard to expediting the investigations in his matter.
He has not reported to work for several days because of his condition, but he said he would be discussing the matter with his employers to see what assistance can be rendered, or what action can be taken.
As to the whereabouts of his friends during the melee, he told police that one was outside while the other had similarly suffered a beating when he had intervened in the matter.
Calls to Crime Chief Seelall Persaud allegedly went unanswered on Tuesday afternoon, when Vanooten tried to appeal for senior ranks to get involved in the investigations. Sources from the Criminal Investigation Department have said that investigations are still continuing, after statements were taken by the police.