— Intelligence-led operation leads Joint Services to D’Urban backlands

EFFORTS are being intensified by the Joint Services to recapture five prisoners who escaped from the Georgetown Prison two Sundays ago during the most devastating fire at the correctional facility.
On Sunday, the Joint Services executed an intelligence-led search of D’Urban backlands, Georgetown, in an effort to locate the prisoners whom they believe are hiding in the backlands.
The search was aided by two Guyana Defence Force (GDF) helicopters and several military vehicles shuttling soldiers in and out of the area, which notorious criminals were known to have used for hideouts.
Entrance into the area was blocked for a few hours while a search was conducted. However, it is not clear if any discoveries were made by the Joint Services.
According to Police Commissioner, Seelall Persaud, all of the ongoing Joint Services’ operations are intelligence-led. He did not say if the security forces were able to locate any of the prisoners, or trails they may have left.

A few days ago, 22-year-old Matthew Shivtahal, a taxi driver who was abducted by four of the escapees, claimed that they were travelling in the backlands.
Shivtahal related that after the men abducted him on July 9, they abandoned his car in North Ruimveldt and entered the backlands on foot.
He said that they walked south, eventually arriving at Land of Canaan, East Bank Demerara, but he was released after they encountered a trench which he could not swim across.

The young man told reporters that some of the men were planning to head up the highway. A military base sits a few miles away from the highway where two notorious criminals – Rondell “Fineman” Rawlins and Jermain “Skinny” Charles — were killed in 2008.
The four escapees Shivtahal claimed abducted him were: Mark Royden Durant called Royden Williams or “Smallie”; Uree Varswyck known as Malcolm Gordon; Stafrei Hopkenson Alexander; and Desmond James.
James was recaptured on Friday evening at Canal Number One on the West Bank of Demerara (WBD). The other two escapees believed to be separate are Cornelius Thomas and Cobena Stephens called “OJ.”
Royden Williams was convicted of eight counts of murder and four counts of manslaughter and was sentenced to death by Justice Roxane George SC, now chief justice. He was part of the notorious “Fineman” gang that had carried out three massacres, claiming the lives of 31 persons.

That gang was believed to have trained in the backlands to use weapons, many of which were identified as those which went missing from the army in 2006.
Shivtahal said that the men did not know exactly where they were at all times. “They find places where they know. They cutting and going. Some of them said they going down the highway.”
He also recalled seeing the men using cell phones throughout the journey while two of them were armed with what appeared to be 9millimetre pistols. The Joint Services have since said that only one pistol is missing from the armoury at the now-demolished Georgetown prison.