THE private criminal charge which was brought against Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum by attorney-at-law Nigel Hughes was on Thursday discontinued by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Shalimar Ali-Hack.

The cybercrime charge was filed on Wednesday by Hughes, who is representing police Sergeant Dion Bascom, who is currently out on $300,000 bail.

On Wednesday, Bascom was slapped with three cybercrime charges for allegedly accusing two senior officers of covering up the murder of Ricardo Fagundes, known as “Paper Shorts.”

In a statement issued by the Guyana Police Force on Thursday, it was disclosed that a message was sent by the DPP to Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan informing her that the charge was discontinued by way of Article 187 (1) (c) of the Constitution of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana.

“The lawyers for the Crime Chief contended that the charge is an abuse of the court’s process and is nothing more than an attempt to intimidate the Crime Chief Mr Blanhum, as well as senior police officers who are expected to testify in the matter against his client,” the GPF statement read.

On August 8, Bascom was arrested during a Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) raid of a home in Norton Street, Georgetown. Bascom was eventually released.

He then posted a live video on social media, which he later deleted, naming businessman Azruddin Mohamed and several senior officers in wild allegations about the murder investigation.

A popular gold dealer and biker, 42-year-old Fagundes was gunned down on Main Street, Georgetown, on March 21. Fagundes was shot more than a dozen times.

In the now-deleted Facebook video, Bascom claimed that he believed his detention had to do with his work on the case in the murder of Fagundes.

Mohamed has filed a $200 million lawsuit against Bascom in relation to claims the latter made regarding the Fagundes’ murder. Mohamed is contending that the allegations made by Bascom are false

The Regional Security System (RSS) recently reviewed the probe into the murder by the Guyana Police Force and confirmed that there was no evidence to suggest that there was any attempt to cover up the crime.

The RSS also found that there is also no evidence of corrupt practices.