Far from being cornered, the nine men who overpowered guards at the Mazaruni prison on Friday remained on the loose up to press time yesterday as the joint services continued intensive operations in and around the area.
The escaped prisoners are: Dineshwar Sooklall, Kenneth Richardson, Asrudden Khan C/D “Rocky,” Anil Sanichar, Ryan Rambharose, Trevor McLean, C/D “Footprint,” Alvin Shivnarine, Randolph Rodrigues, and Royston Reid, C/D “Knuckles.” Sooklall, Richardson, Khan, Rodrigues, Reid and McLean were all serving sentences for manslaughter; and Sanichar and Shivnarine were serving sentences for murder, while Reid was serving time for trafficking and Rambharose for larceny.
Deputy Director of Prisons, Poshanand Tahal told Stabroek News at 4 pm yesterday that there have been no new developments in the search for the prisoners.
Police at Bartica also confirmed last evening that the search was still ongoing. Director of Prisons, Dale Erskine who held a press conference on Saturday could not be contacted by Stabroek News for comment yesterday.
A party of prison, police and army personnel is in the field pursuing the men but up to last evening they had not been able to apprehend the men.
The source notes that it is possible the men could follow a trail cut by logging concerns and get to the north west region. Other police sources noted that it was possible for the men to get as far as Venezuela providing they could get a boat to take them there. Food and other supplies would be pivotal.
Several of the men are from the island of Wakenaam in the Essequibo River and a close watch was being kept on routes there.
Meanwhile, three of the four servicemen who sustained injuries following the Mazaruni prison break remain hospitalised while the other was discharged yesterday. The men were hurt in a friendly fire shoot-out.
Prison officer, Michael Hosannah who was shot in the right shin area has been released from the Georgetown Public Hospital.
Since the announcement from Director of Prisons, Erskine that they were all injured by friendly fire the men have accepted they shot at each other but still maintain it was difficult to tell what was happening at the time on Friday night.
Phillip Stevenson, a prison officer told Stabroek news yesterday he could not tell who was who, “It was all shadows and I really can’t say what was happening at the time”. He was shot in the upper right side of his chest. The bullet is still lodged in the area but Stevenson said much of the pain he was feeling has gone.
Police Constable Leonard La Rose still remains in a serious condition. His condition is being monitored closely and he is in severe pain. Relatives wanted him flown overseas but have been advised against removing him at this stage.
La Rose is conscious though and yesterday he told this newspaper that he is grateful to be alive. He said the shooting happened rather quickly. He recalled seeing figures and trying to signal but met with gunfire instead.
Erskine was confident on Saturday that the men would be caught. He told a news conference that all exit points had been cordoned off and he was confident that the joint services manhunt would bring speedy results. The authorities revealed that the escapees used sharpened instruments to engineer the break-out, but they discounted that the men had been armed with guns.
Although the men are not armed with firearms, Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee emphasised that they were still considered dangerous.
Erskine said that the initial report of the break-out had been made at 4.20 pm on Friday.
Two guards had been overpowered at the brick prison housing 57 prisoners of the some 361 total prison population. The men then made their way out of the gate to the fence, where they were spotted by a guard, who raised an alarm. They threatened to chop the guard and then they scaled the fence. Immediately after the alarm had been raised a joint services response team was activated and within two hours there were between 20 and 30 ranks from the police and prison service on the ground. There were around 67 ranks on the ground yesterday.
Around 7.40 pm there were reports that four servicemen had been shot during a confrontation with the escaped prisoners – the friendly fire incident. The shooting took place around the Skull Point area. Erskine said it was very dark and the men saw silhouette figures and one person fired, triggering an exchange. He said the men had not been in radio contact with each other but did have cellular phones; however he factored in the speed at which events unfolded.
Erskine said the authorities were 100% sure that it was a case of friendly fire, since the rounds used were consistent with the weapons that were being used by members of the search party.
Despite the initial hiccup, Erskine was confident that the men would be recaptured. He said the joint services were competently dealing with the situation and intelligence gathering had revealed that the men were within neighbouring areas. He noted that most of the men were from Essequibo and it was believed that a few might be headed that way.
In November 2005, five prisoners escaped from the Mazaruni prison after ripping out wooden bars on their cell doors and cutting the chain-link fence of the compound. They were recaptured within days, however. There have been other escapes from the institution over the years as well. Erskine admitted that generally staffing had always been a problem and there had never been the recommended ratio of guards to prisoners. However, he said the prison was not overcrowded although it was understaffed by about fifteen guards. Minister Rohee said the general staffing of the prisons was a situation that was certainly under review.
Anyone seeing or knowing the whereabouts of the men is asked to make contact with the police on the following numbers: 225-8196, 226-6978, 226-1326, 225-3650, 225-6411, 225-6940, 225-6941, 333-2151, 229-2700, 268-2222, 444-6941, 771-4010, 771-4012, 911 or any police station. Persons can also contact the Guyana Prison Service on telephone numbers 225-6003, 226-8301 or 226-5855-6.
