A three-member investigative team from Trinidad arrived in Guyana yesterday by helicopter and was immediately taken to the site of the grisly slaying of eight miners at Lindo Creek to assist with the probe, the Ministry of Home Affairs said yesterday.
Guyana turned to Caricom for assistance following the turning down by the US of a request for help.
In a statement yesterday the ministry said Government sought Caricom’s assistance and the authorities in Barbados, Trinidad and Jamaica have all responded positively and immediately to its requests.
According to the release Jamaica will dispatch a team soon while Barbados has indicated its readiness to be part of the investigation.
The Trinidadian team which arrived yesterday includes a crime investigator, forensic investigator and a homicide expert.
Government first floated the idea of forensic assistance after persons began raising questions about the discovery of burnt bones and skulls by owner of the camp, Leonard Arokium.
At a press conference just over one week ago, Home Affairs Minister, Clement Rohee had told the media that there are other options open in the Caribbean for forensics help but he had declined to state the countries that the government was planning to turn to in case the request to the US was rejected.
The statement went on to say “These immediate and generous responses by the Authorities in Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica are a clear manifestation of the Region’s Law Enforcement Agencies commitment to assist each other in crime prevention, detection and crime solving”, the release said adding that the Guyana government is deeply appreciative of the three countries’ readiness to provide this greatly needed assistance and reiterates its commitment to working with the co-joined investigating team with a view to expediting the investigations into the slaying of the eight miners.
The press release provided no further information on the team’s activities during its stay here.
This newspaper understands that a high level security meeting was on up to last night.
On June 21, after receiving reports that his men at the camp were killed, Arokium journeyed to the area and found burnt remains and the camp in disarray. He had reportedly received information that the men were killed the previous week.
According to him he had received a phone call from a woman who told him that some “soldiers” had shot and killed his men and burnt their bodies. Later, he said, he received a second phone call from a private number. This time, Arokium explained it was a man calling and he told him the same thing.
The Joint Services have since denied the claims made by the dredge owner that the brutal crime was committed by soldiers.
Police had blamed the attack on Rondell `Fineman’ Rawlins and his gang whom they said they had encountered during a confrontation at Christmas Falls on June 6. They said that one of the gunmen was killed while six others managed to escape.
Shortly after this another group of gunmen hijacked a busload of passengers on the Aroaima trail and disappeared. Police killed two gunmen subsequently at Goat Farm, located some 90 miles from Christmas Falls and arrested a teenager at Ituni. The teen was subsequently charged with the February 17, killings at Bartica. It is not clear whether the men who were killed – Julius Chung and Cecil Ramcharran were among the hijackers.
Police have not been able to explain how the gunmen who were first confronted at Christmas Falls were able to move 90 miles, breaking out of a cordon which was reportedly established. Some observers believe that the lawmen might have been up against two groups of gunmen – one at Christmas Falls and the other at Goat Farm. So far there has been no official word from authorities on their hunt for Rawlins and the remainder of his gang and according to the Home Affairs Minister at his recent press conference “the trail has probably gotten a little cold”. Stabroek News had been told that lawmen who visited the Lindo Creek campsite found evidence of some of the miners being tortured.
This newspaper has been informed that one of the skulls found at the location had an impression suggesting that the person was beaten in the head.
The eight men who were murdered are Nigel Torres, Bonny Harry, Cecil Arokium, Lancelot Lee, Horace Drakes, Dax Arokium, Clifton Wong and Compton Speirs.
