The three remaining escapees from the gang of nine who broke out of the Mazaruni Prison two Fridays ago were recaptured yesterday bringing a close to the intense chase by the joint services.
Randolph Rodrigues was the last of the men to be caught during the afternoon hours. Two of his accomplices in the break-out were recaptured earlier yesterday. The two men captured before Rodrigues yesterday are Kenneth Richardson and Ryan Rambharose. They were observed by a Joint Services patrol on the Essequibo River bank.
Director of Prisons Dale Erskine told Stabroek News yesterday that Rodrigues was caught in the Karau Creek area, the same region around which Richardson and Rambharose were recaptured after eight days on the run. The two men captured earlier yesterday were returned to the Mazaruni Prison at 11 am while Rodrigues was taken there at just before 3 pm. All the escapees, Erskine said last evening, have since been transported to the Georgetown Prison.
Erskine had told this newspaper earlier that much of the area in Makouria had been cordoned off hence the capture of Richardson and Rambharose.
He said an investigation into the reasons, causes and whether there was a bigger plan behind the escape would be investigated. The police would also look at criminal culpability. The Prison Service would facilitate those investigations as well as those of the board of enquiry recently established by Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee.
The prisoners who escaped were: Dineshwar Sooklall, of Wakenaam, who was serving a sentence for the manslaughter of schoolgirl Julie Sooklall; Richardson, of Wakenaam, for manslaughter; Asrudden Khan c/d “Rocky,” of Wakenaam, for the manslaughter of Julie Sooklall; Anil Sanichar, of Zeelugt, for murder; Rambharose, of Mon Repos, for larceny; Trevor McLean, c/d “Footprint”, for manslaughter; Alvin Shivnarine, for murder; Rodrigues, of Plaisance, for manslaughter; and Royston Reid, c/d “Knuckles,” for trafficking.
Just after the escape, four members of a joint services search party were shot in a friendly fire incident.
Prison officers Philip Stevenson and Michael Hosannah and police constables Leonard La Rose and Richeland Blanhum – had to be air-dashed to the city and after receiving treatment were admitted to the Georgetown Public Hospital. Stabroek News was informed that La Rose, one of the more seriously injured, has been discharged from the hospital. The injuries occurred after prison warders and the police opened fire on each other.
The nine broke out of prison around 4:30 pm two Fridays ago during a routine “feed up” of inmates. Erskine had told the media at a press conference that the escapees had overpowered two guards at the brick prison.
He said that from there the men 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 scaled the fence.
On Monday afternoon the nine convicts were confronted by members of the joint services while walking along the Karau Trail, Bartica. During the confrontation the men tried to escape as a result of which they were shot at.
McLean, Sanichar, Reid and Shivnarine eventually surrendered and the others fled further into the jungle.
While shots were being fired, Mc Lean was hit in the shoulder and was later taken to the Bartica Hospital were he was treated for his wound and returned to his cell at the prison.
A fifth prison escapee, Khan was caught on Wednesday after he was handed over to members of the Joint Services by a boat captain at the Mazaruni Boat Landing.
Police in a statement said the boat captain was in the vicinity of Kamayra when the fugitive stopped him and requested a drop. After intense questioning by the captain, Khan admitted that the police wanted him and was subsequently handed over to the Joint Services team.
Sooklall was captured the following day as he was attempting to enter an abandoned house at Karau, Bartica.
