As Barticians sift through the details of the horrific February 17 attack, some are coming to the conclusion that the boat found at St Mary’s might have been set adrift to mislead investigators and they also believe that some of their own aided the gunmen in a number of ways including providing vehicles.
Though no specific allegation has been made against the three Bartica men picked up by police following the massacre of twelve persons in the community, serious questions are being raised in Bartica about their prior and subsequent movements, particularly in the case of the boat operator.
The three were flown to the city last week and are being grilled by police. Among them are a boat operator and two men who are said to be self-employed. Reports out of Bartica indicate that the men are well known characters due to their previous brushes with the law, which includes narcotic and gun offences in the case of at least two. Shock was reportedly not among the emotions expressed in the community when police arrested the trio.
Sources say they are born and bred Barticans who have apparently been acting suspiciously in the days leading up to and after the attack. One of the men was described by a resident as “a devoted family man of questionable character”.
So far there has been no outcry from persons in the community against the men’s detention since many persons feel that inside intelligence was instrumental in the attack. One resident told Stabroek News yesterday that it is crucial that the joint services speak with persons in the community in order to re-trace the steps of certain individuals, adding that a few can hardly give a proper account as to where they were on the night of the spine-chilling raid.
Further, he said that private vehicles right in Bartica were used in the attack noting that the gunmen were aided from the minute they got off at the stelling up until they fled by boat.
It is estimated that between fifteen to twenty men carried out the attack and after several days of going over the escape route, sources in Bartica said they could have fled south down the river in two boats – the 75 horse power engine found drifting at St. Mary’s, a hinterland community a few miles from Bartica, and a 200 horse power engine boat, according to sources.
Sources said three of the men were left to guard the river while over ten others assaulted the community in the hour-long attack.
When they were leaving, the men reportedly took a few minutes before pulling off in the boats, which the source said, indicates they were doing much of the loading into the bigger boat and were merely throwing a few things into the craft found at St. Mary’s.
The gunmen would have continued south to the Sheribana crossing, which is a gateway to the Guyana/Brazil border town of Lethem. A source told this newspaper there are timber trails along the route heading to Sheribana that are used by persons familiar with them, and pointed out that the trails can lead to the Wisroc area where the joint services had carried out an operation shortly after the Bartica attack.
But the source noted that very few persons have expert knowledge of the timber trails area and pointed out that though some are willing to cooperate with the joint services, they are fearful for their lives.
“Believing this is exactly where those guys went then more than likely a confrontation will ensue if the joint services are led to these trails. No ordinary citizen wants to get caught up in that though I am sure people would love to volunteer”, the source said.
Since the joint services have not stumbled upon any other evidence suggesting that the men fled south along the river in the direction of Sheribana except for the boat at St. Mary’s other sources say that the men may have never used that route but instead fled north after leaving Bartica into the Atlantic. This would mean that they allowed one of the boats to drift off in one direction while they went the opposite way, creating a diversion.
The men could have gone north using the west bank of the river to exit the Essequibo River. It is believed someone with precise knowledge of the river aided the men in navigating under the cover of darkness.
