Minister Rohee, Commissioner Greene said there were “intellectual authors” behind the arson plot and investigators are looking for some key players
THE Police have uncovered a network behind the firebombing of the Health Ministry complex on Brickdam, Georgetown and Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee yesterday said the arson was clearly politically motivated.

Two persons were charged in connection with the arson and appeared yesterday before a city magistrate while two others mysteriously vanished from a secure police station cell.

Adding to what the minister called “a very intriguing case”, two of four other men held in the probe disappeared before dawn yesterday from secure lockups in the Providence police station under the noses of a female police corporal and another rank on duty.

At a joint press conference at the Home Affairs Ministry on Brickdam, the minister and Police Commissioner Henry Greene said there were “intellectual authors” behind the arson plot and investigators are looking for some key players.

But while Greene said “we don’t know where this (the investigation) will lead us”, Rohee told reporters the available and emerging evidence indicates that the arson was “obviously conceived within a political context”.

“…the intellectual authors of the act have been established”, he declared.

Greene said the disappearance of the two men from the Providence lockups has triggered serious concern, adding that there was no sign of breakage at the lockups and the men simply vanished while the corporal and the other cop were on duty. He said the corporal and the other rank have been arrested and are being questioned about the disappearance of the two men.

The commissioner said police are working on a theory that the two were removed from the lockups “by some corrupt means”.

He said the firebombing was “carefully planned and executed” and suspects detained have given statements implicating other central players.

“We are still looking for at least two other key players who we feel can assist us in this investigation…We feel we have a lot more to unearth based on statements that have been made in this matter as to who is supporting what took place at the Ministry of Health. We have that in writing”, he said.

Rohee said the “well-orchestrated and planned activity” was conceived by some well-known persons who hired underlings to set fire to the Health Ministry.

He said the network included the intellectual authors, planners, recruiters and those who carried out the act.

There were active and passive players behind the firebombing plot and police have a “fairly good grasp” of their network, he added.

“Let the chips fall where they may”, he offered in response to a question about how high the investigation could lead.

He also commended the Police Force for its excellent work in unraveling the case so far.

“It shows that our force has now reached a level where they can crack an activity like this in such a short period…and that speaks well for the organization”, he said.

Greene said evidence points to a clear pattern in the July 17 pre-dawn torching of the building and those who recruited others for the plot told them they did not like the government and they were going to set cars on fire and create diversions.

“Initially some of the people were told `we’re going to burn cars’ and then subsequently, when pulled together”, it ended up in the burning of the Health Ministry in which Molotov cocktails (channa bombs) were used, he said.

According to the top cop, those recruited were promised payment for their services and some have confessed to receiving money for their part in the plot.

Rohee said some of the underlings were sent to buy bottles, gasoline and channa and the police have information about where and when meetings for the planning were held and with whom.

Greene said the police have clear evidence of persons “entering the building and doing what they had to do”. He told reporters some employees of the ministry are also to be questioned in relation to the fire.

The firebombing triggered heightened security at all government facilities and key installations, including Guyana Elections Commission offices, he said.

President Bharrat Jagdeo, after the fire, said several channa bombs were located in the compound and investigations pointed to a “deliberate act”.

Asked if the firebombing may be part of a bigger plot, he said then: “We can’t take chances – so no stone is being left unturned”.

“…no angle is left out from the investigations…I have had extensive meetings with the security forces and we are going to get to the bottom of this and we are going to get the people who did this”, the President vowed.

He announced a $25M reward for any information that could help track and convict those who committed “this atrocious act”.

Health Minister, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, at a press conference after the fire, said the blaze started on the upper floor of the main building in the complex.

The complex that was gutted by the blaze that started around 3am, housed the offices of Ramsammy and senior ministry officers and four other annexes.

Three other buildings in the compound were slightly damaged, including one in the southeastern corner of the compound in which an incendiary device was placed.

Greene yesterday said security guards on duty at the Health Ministry appeared to have been sleeping when the fire began.