–wife of slain suspected bandit says of husband’s demise

THE wife of Kwame Assanah, one of the suspected bandits who was killed by the police on the Georgetown seawall on Thursday, believes the man may have been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

This is even as relatives of the man point to holes in the police report of the incident, which left two other men dead during a shootout with the lawmen.
Assanah, Errol Adams and Grove shop-keeper Dextroy Cordis were killed by the police around midday on Thursday, after the men were alleged to have trailed a customer from a city bank.

The police, in their report, stated that around 10:30h on Thursday, based on information received from ‘operatives’ on duty in the vicinity of Scotia Bank on Robb Street, ranks of an anti-crime patrol in an unmarked vehicle began trailing a motorcar with two suspicious-looking characters in it, which was in the vicinity at the time.
The suspects were reportedly seen following a customer who had exited Scotia Bank and driven off in a motorcar.

According to the police, the customer, upon arriving at the Kingston Seawall, parked his motorcar. No sooner had he done so, the police say, than he was pounced upon by the suspects.
Cordis and Assanah, who were in the latter’s car, a Toyota Ist bearing registration PTT 9034, were killed, the police say, following a confrontation with lawmen. Adams, who was on a motorcycle, which, the police claimed, arrived at the scene after the initial shooting, died during a subsequent exchange of gunfire with lawmen in an unmarked police vehicle.

NO CRIMINAL HISTORY
On Friday, Claire Assanah vehemently denied that her husband had any previous criminal history, a claim which the police force, through Crime Chief Paul Williams, has corroborated in other sections of the media.

The woman said she last spoke to her husband at around 11:47h on Thursday when the two discussed plans for him to pick up their children later in the day. She told the Guyana Chronicle that she never knew her husband to be involved in any criminal activity.
She said that the Toyota motorcar he was using is registered in both their names, and that her husband would work taxi from time to time. She believes that this may have led to his demise, as she and relatives believe that the man may have inadvertently been at the wrong place when the shooting occurred.

Assanah’s wife, who teaches at a city private school, noted that her husband was shot once in the right arm and again in the right rib cage.
She said that the family is seeking answers, as they find that the police’s story does not add up. The family plans to approach a lawyer in that regard.
Assanah’s wife said her husband was once a pilot-in-training, but later made a family-related decision to switch careers. The family operates a chicken farm, and only recently, the man started out at a new job as a debt collector, ventures which the woman said provided for the family’s welfare.

She said that seeing that her husband had to seek a police clearance for his new job, the police would have been able to say if indeed he did have a criminal history in the process of obtaining the clearance.

As regards the passports which were found in the man’s car, the woman said her husband always carried around important documents with him as well as the passports of he and the entire family. She could not say how the police managed to find an additional five passports in the couple’s car.

NOT AN AGGRESSIVE MAN
“I know he would have pleaded for his life; he is not the type to confront,” the man’s wife noted, her voice breaking.

According to the police, following the shooting, a 9mm pistol, along with a magazine containing seven live rounds and four spent shells were found next to the Cordis’ body.
Police said Thursday’s operation was as a result of improved efforts to crack down on crime. “Following several incidents of robbery-under-arms committed on customers who would have gone to various commercial banks to conduct financial transactions within recent times, surveillance and collaboration with key stakeholders were improved,” the police said in a statement.

Earlier this month, and in light of a spate of robberies which involved persons being trailed after withdrawing huge sums of money from the bank, the Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan suggested that the police conduct “a sting operation”.
“We need as much information as we can get from communities in order to solve the bank-related robberies,” the minister said, adding:

“Parents and friends know who the thieves are, so we are pleading with you to speak out.”
A few days earlier, the Guyana Association of Bankers (GAB) said it was deeply concerned about the escalating incidence of persons being targetted after conducting financial transactions at commercial banks.

“We strongly condemn these incidents, and wish to assure our customers and the public at large that as an industry, we are working with the relevant authorities and internally with all member banks with a view to arresting this trend,” the association said in a statement.