Police to institute charges by tomorrow

THE POLICE will go ahead and level several charges, including murder, against persons they have in custody for the kidnapping and subsequent murder of businessman Rajendra Singh.

A police source has informed this newspaper that, based on the information available to investigators, the men would be charged, and are expected to be placed before the courts tomorrow.

Last Sunday, the police disclosed that they had arrested and are detaining six persons in connection with the businessman’s kidnapping and subsequent murder. Those persons were first held for 72 hours, after which the police sought and obtained permission to detain the suspects for an additional 72 hours, which reportedly would expire tomorrow.

The police have also confirmed that a female was first held in connection with the kidnapping, but they say she was subsequently released.

The Guyana Police Force has also issued a statement to remove misconceptions in regard to information published in another section of the media, where it was reported that the police had received specific information regarding the village and house where the kidnappers were holding their victim, but had failed to act immediately, and had only searched the house after the kidnappers had removed the man.

The police have specifically denied those claims, have stated that they were never in receipt of the information in question, and that they never searched a certain abandoned house among the places which had been searched for the kidnapped businessman.

In chronicling the events which guided their investigation, the police have stated, among other things, that they had searched several houses as they tried to locate the businessman.

Senseless
Relatives of the late Rajendra Singh are still trying to come to grips with what they are calling the ‘senseless killing’ of the businessman.

Speaking with the Guyana Chronicle newspaper yesterday afternoon, a relative said that since the businessman had been kidnapped, only his wife, her family and the police had participated in the negotiations to facilitate his release.

The relative said that the man’s family members had not been privy to any information, and had not been allowed to participate in the process of trying to secure the man’s safe release.

According to this relative, the man’s relatives had been apprised of developments in the case only by reading what was published in the press, and listening to what was being circulated at street corners and other talking points.

The businessman’s wife had intended to speak publicly on the matter after the man had been safely returned to her, but that did not materialise.

It was communicated to this publication yesterday that during the man’s captivity and before he was found dead, the police had had his wife spending most of her time in their presence as they sought to monitor her movements and the calls she received from the kidnappers.