–in wake of jailbreak, unrest at G/town prison

POLICE in ‘E’ Division (Upper Demerara-Upper Berbice) have beefed up security in Region 10, and have established a major road block in the vicinity of Bamia, just outside Linden proper on the Soesdyke-Linden Highway, according to Divisional Commander Fazil Karimbaskh.

The development follows Sunday’s unrest at the Georgetown Prison and subsequent destruction of the facility by fire, which resulted in five inmates escaping custody,

With one of the escapees being condemned prisoner, Mark Royden Williams, called ‘Durant’, who was recently sentenced to death for his role in the 2008 Bartica Massacre, the atmosphere in Linden is understandably tense.
This is so given that Williams was a member of the notorious Rondell ‘Fine-Man’ Rawlins gang deemed responsible for the 2008 crime wave, during which scores of Guyanese were either murdered or just disappeared, never to be heard from again.

Some Lindeners have expressed fear that Williams might seek refuge in the Region, since in 2008, there were rumours that the gang was hiding out in Linden and several other neighbouring communities.
Some of the gang members were even killed in communities located in Region 10, and subsequently ‘Fine-Man’ himself and Jermaine `Skinny’ Charles were gunned down during a shootout with Joint Services ranks at Kuru Kururu on the Soesdyke-Linden Highway in late August 2008.

Word also is that Uree Varswyck, another of Sunday’s escapees, has close relatives living somewhere at either Soesdyke or the Soesdyke-Linden Highway, and that he might very well be headed there to hole out until the dust settles.
Commander Karimbaskh, however, told the Guyana Chronicle on Monday that thus far,he has not been in receipt of any information regarding the escapees heading in the direction of Region 10, but he has taken every precaution should that happen.
“We have done road block exercises, acting on instructions, at Bamia, because they have to come through there… We are working on ‘intel’ information so far, but we have continued to heighten our patrols,” the commander said.
Another escapee, who has been identified as Stafrie Hopkinson Alexander, is on trial for the murder of Linden businesswoman, Shevon Gordon, which occurred at Wismar on April 4, 2015.

Alexander, though not from Linden, is said to have ties in the mining town and may very well also attempt to flee here. The murder accused also escaped from the Mackenzie Police Station in December 2015, but was later apprehended during a checkpoint search at the Kurupukari Crossing in the North Rupununi.
He’d smashed a hole in the wall of the lockups along with Robin Maxwell Thomas who was also charged for the businesswoman’s murder. Thomas was later fished out of the Demerara River in the vicinity of West Watooka.
The post-mortem revealed that he’d sustained blunt-force trauma to the head, and that his skull was fractured. It was alleged that Alexander may have been responsible for Thomas’s death, out of fear he would have ratted him out.
“I just hope they find these men quickly, and Linden is not a target, because in 2008, this place went uneasy, uneasy,” one Linden taxi driver said on Monday.
“All yuh did hearing was ‘Fine-Man’ over de river, ‘Fine-Man’ pon de highway;everybody was fearful. And Linden is de gateway to de interior, suh de police have to do their work, ‘cause is there nuff ah dem does run,” he added.