FIRE, suspected to be the result of arson, destroyed part of a building yesterday morning and left water damage in the Lot 62 Rewa Avenue, Lamaha Springs home of Senior Police Superintendent Ivan Graham. A section of the ceiling and a wardrobe were damaged.
The officer, who is in charge of the Construction Department of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) at the Eve Leary Headquarters, also in Georgetown, reported that a bag, containing an undisclosed amount of money and jewels, is missing.
But some of the gold jewellery was recovered by police on a dam in the area and a sledge hammer, believed to have been used to break a wall in the man’s house, was also found on the premises.
Investigators are working on the theory that entry was gained to the heavily grilled flat concrete structure by the breakage at the back of the house and the wardrobe was then set alight.
Fire Chief Marlon Gentle said they received four calls from residents of Lamaha Springs and three tenders responded shortly after 10:00hrs and contained the flames to that building.
He said Graham was at work but was alerted and went to the scene.
Gentle said the firefighters got into the house by ripping out several zinc sheets and prevented the conflagration from spreading.
Meanwhile, when the Guyana Chronicle team went to the location, nearby residents refused to comment but a few of them were observed speaking in hushed tones.
Graham, himself, did not want to comment except to confirm that he was not present when the fire started and the house was locked up.
A large group of policemen and women converged there to lend support to their colleague, who was in a state of shock, having hurried from his office to his residence.
Gentle disclosed that, only last week, the GFS contained another outbreak at a shack in Clifford Avenue, Lamaha Springs, which had been started by children while the occupants were not present.