Joint Services ranks are in hot pursuit of a gang, including wanted man Rondell ‘Fineman’ Rawlins after intelligence pointed them to the Christmas Falls area some 300 miles up the Berbice River, where they came under fire and responded, killing one of the men, yet to be identified.
However, the rest of the gang escaped leaving behind a cache of arms and ammunition, some of which have been confirmed by police as those stolen from the Bartica Police station, the night that community came under siege by gunmen. Weapons belonging to Bartica miner Chunilall Babolall whose business place was attacked and robbed during that incident were also recovered.
The Joint Services, in a press release issued last evening, said diary had been unearthed also and it provided incontrovertible evidence of Rawlins planning and executing of the slaughters at Lusignan and Bartica, taking vengeance for the death of his sister and a number of telephone numbers.
Three FN rifles, four shotguns, one (1) .32 revolver, two AK-47 magazines, seven FN rifle magazines, along with 1,159 rounds of 7.62 x 39 ammunition, 143 rounds of 7.62 x 51 ammunition, 10 rounds .38 ammunition, one round of .32 ammunition and 36 12-gauge cartridges were recovered in the desolate jungle area where the men were hiding out.
Police have since confirmed that the three FN rifles had been stolen from the Bartica Police station and the .32 revolver and two of the shotguns belonged to Babolall.
The statement said consequent upon the recent arrest of a number of persons and diligent interrogations and enquiries, about 0700 hrs on Friday, ranks while on patrol in the Berbice River community encountered a gang of about six persons.
It added that the patrol came under fire, returned fire and a gang member was subsequently killed.
The other gang members who include wanted men ‘Fineman’; Richard Ramcharran called ‘Uncle Willie’; ‘Magic’; and ‘Chung Boy’ among others, escaped down a slope and disappeared into the jungle. Trails of blood found suggest that others were injured, the statement added.
The men were housed in a location with four buildings in a desolate area in the jungle and had foodstuff to last several weeks in a large kitchen, which also had a gas stove, generator and solar energy. In addition, there were six portable tents, four hammocks, three mattresses, a mini-stereo system, a DVD player, a cell phone, a hand-held radio set, items of clothing, medical supplies and a bible which were abandoned by the gang,” the joint services statement said last night.
Additional teams of Joint Services ranks have since joined the operation.
Meanwhile, nearby Kwakwani residents with whom this newspaper spoke yesterday were not able to confirm whether there was an operation but said they had noticed the army helicopter as well as other aircraft flying around and seemed as though they were conducting surveillance.
“But we don’t really know what happening. We just hearing things and seeing the chopper,” one man said.
In the mining community of Aroaima, the atmosphere was normal as reported by one miner. He said he had noticed and heard the chopper flying around but did not speculate. Asked whether he had noticed or heard of any strange persons in the area recently , the man said no.
“We are a tightly-knit mining community and if any strange persons had come around we would know one way or the other. So no one had come in here,” he said.
The mysterious gang which it is believed carried out a number of armed attacks including the gruesome slaughter at Lusignan massacre on the morning of January 26 in which 11 men, women and children were mowed down, followed by the attack on Bartica in which 12 persons were murdered, has been able to evade capture for some time now.
The authorities believe that Rawlins heads the gang, which has reigned terror and reaped fear throughout the country. Rawlins’ sister, Marcyn King, was shot and killed by mysterious gunmen in March and so far, there has been no indication of who perpetrated the act. Following the killings, the police had condemned the act and promised to investigate the incident thoroughly.
Many had come out in condemnation of the killing and Rawlins’s relatives were quoted in sections of the media saying that they wanted no revenge for her killing.
So far, 19-year-old James Hyles of Buxton has been charged with the 11 murders at Lusignan while Clebert Reece and Roger Simon of Bartica have been charged with the Bartica killings.
In his address to mark the 42nd Independence Anniversary, President Bharrat Jagdeo told the nation that law enforcers are working every day to bring the perpetrators of the two massacres this year to justice. Noting that the country had been confronted internally by “evil forces”, Jagdeo had stated, “Every day, the law enforcement agencies are working to bring to justice the perpetrators of the Lusignan and Bartica massacres, as well as other violent crimes. They are being supported by intelligence supplied by an ever-widening group of Guyanese. To give continued support and impetus to the anti-crime initiatives and to ensure a broad-based national response, we will continue to engage national stakeholders in finding solutions to this dilemma.”
