By Nigel Williams
Photos by Jules Gibson
In another brazen assault last night mirroring recent attacks on the police headquarters and the Bartica police station, gunmen unleashed a barrage of gunshots on the East La Penitence police station sending ranks scampering for cover.
A few hours later, a decapitated body believed to be that of missing businessman Farouk Kalamadeen was discovered in Kingston – in the same ward as the Police HQ. The attack on the station appeared to be another case of diverting the police’s attention while, in this case, the dumping of the headless body occurred.
The shooters left several bullet holes on the outer walls of the station, located on Mandela Avenue. No one was injured. Up to press time this afternoon there was no official statement from the police.
When Stabroek News visited the station this morning, several police officers were there, but were unwilling to speak about the incident. Stabroek News was told that the gunmen attacked the station from both the eastern and southern ends.
Police sources said some 22 7.62 spent shells were recovered from the scene. A taxi driver told this newspaper that he was on Mandela Avenue in that area, when he heard rapid gunfire. The taxi driver, who asked not be named, said he and several of his colleagues from the same service, immediately came off the road. He said he was not certain where the gunfire was coming from and could not imagine it was an attack on the police station.
A security guard at a building next door to the station said she was in the guard hut when she heard the gunshots and fearing for her life, she stayed in. “I ain’t going out there to see anything,” the guard commented. She said when the shooting subsided and she went outside to have a look, she saw some police officers frantically looking around. Stabroek News could not ascertain whether the police had responded to the gunfire.
Over the years, gunmen have routinely targeted police stations on their way to committing serious atrocities, as happened in the January and February slaughters at Lusignan and Bartica. Gunmen operating out of Buxton have also targeted the Vigilance Police Station in the past.
Back in January, in one of the most brazen attacks in recent history, gunmen blasted three policemen manning the western gate at the Police Headquarters, Eve Leary, hitting two in their legs and leaving the force scrambling to protect its base. Shortly afterwards, they stormed Lusignan killing 11 people including five children. Since then police have maintained a cordon around the Eve Leary headquarters and had also erected barriers on Brickdam.
Police had believed the attack was the work of the country’s most wanted man, Rondell ‘Fineman’ Rawlins who was said to have upped the ante against the security forces then following the alleged abduction of his girlfriend, Tenisha Morgan. A man purporting to be Rawlins had contacted Criminal Investigation Department headquarters one day before the attack at Eve Leary warning officers there that if his girlfriend was not returned he would create mayhem.
Acting Commissioner of Police, Henry Greene, had said then that the carload of gunmen pulled up at the corner of Parade and Young streets, Eve Leary in front of the canon at the TSU base. He said the men stopped their vehicle and fired several shots, hitting two policemen, who were keeping the company of the sentry at the time. The gunmen’s assault also saw bullets drilling several holes in the wall of the fence. Greene said the gunmen escaped along Carifesta Avenue. Police had recovered several 5.56 rounds which are used in M-16 rifles.
The gunmen who murdered the 12 people in Bartica had also used a similar tactic; attacking the police station there first. Using speedboats, around 20 gunmen stormed the southwestern township of Bartica, located some 80 miles from Georgetown on the night of February 17. They overran the police station and murdered three policemen and then nine civilians. The gunmen first attacked the station killing the three officers and seriously wounding two others. They then carted off several firearms and ammunition from two strong boxes. Days after the attack, Greene had told reporters that the policemen were not alert enough and as such, he encouraged his charges to be more vigilant.
