…Ramjattan sticks with police version of seawall killings

MINISTER of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan said he will be standing with the Guyana Police Force’s version of the shooting death of three suspected bandits at the Kingston seawall until the coroner’s inquest proves otherwise.

“I am on the side of the Police Commissioner; I believe his version of what transpired. At this stage, however, there will be a complete investigation,” the Security Minister told reporters on the sideline of the National Drug Observatories seminar held at the Ramada Princess Hotel on Wednesday morning.

Police shot and killed Dextroy Cordis, 46, called “Dutty” of Grove, East Bank Demerara; Kwame Assanah, 37, of Buxton, East Coast Demerara (ECD); and Errol Adams, 57, also known as “Dynamite,” of Buxton, ECD on March 15 last at the Georgetown seawall.
The police in a statement had said the men had trailed a customer from a commercial bank and were about to commit a crime when they were confronted.

Ramjattan said a file is being completed pending three statements from alleged eyewitnesses who sought the counsel of Attorney Nigel Hughes. “He (Attorney) called me and indicated that they (eyewitnesses) are very fearful, and to that extent we would like to complete the file and send it to the DPP in accordance with regular procedures, then a coroner’s inquest will be ordered,” Ramjattan said.

Adding that all witnesses should come forward when the coroner’s inquest commences, Ramjattan said he was not clear on all of the circumstances surrounding the shooting but the inquest will shed more light on details. “I don’t want us to start demoralising our police. There is an extraordinary negative to that and I am going to support my policemen until such time that it’s proven that they did something wrong,” the Security Minister said.

Acting Commissioner of Police David Ramnarine had noted that the policemen were justified in “taking out” the suspected bandits, saying that they were fired upon first. However, subsequently an eyewitness surfaced and contradicted the police’s version.

Devon Lyte, accompanied by lawyer, Nigel Hughes, told a news conference that he was a labourer working on the roof of the Guyana Softball Association building on March 15 at the time of the killings.

However, police said they are in possession of three statements that revealed that Devon Lyte, who claimed he was on the roof of the building, was actually a labourer who worked on the ground. The acting commissioner of police had called on all eyewitnesses to come forward since “the Force is more opened now and there is nothing to be afraid of”. “The Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) that is conducting this investigation is led by an exceedingly competent officer. I would like (the public) to know that it is a requirement in law that all unnatural deaths, including fatal shootings, be investigated and sent for legal advice,” Ramnarine told reporters.