The police know the identity of the man who pulled the trigger of the gun that shot Commissioner of Insurance Maria van Beek on April 15, according to Crime Chief Seelall Persaud.
“We have the identity of the shooter and we are looking for him…,” Persaud told Stabroek News yesterday. He said the police have searched the man’s abode and other places he is known to be around but he has not been found.
According to Persaud, the police were able to identify the suspect based on information they have received so far and they are doing all that needs to be done to apprehend the shooter.
This is the first real break in the shooting of the Judicial Manager of CLICO (Guyana), which shocked the nation. Police had arrested two men following the shooting, but when they were placed on identification parades they were not identified and the lawmen were forced to release them.
Meanwhile, Persaud confirmed that the police have been interviewing persons in the insurance industry as they continue the investigation into the shooting. He said they have received no new information that would warrant the arrest of any of those persons.
Stabroek News understands that the police interviewed those persons in an effort to find the motive behind the attempt on van Beek’s life. Sources yesterday said that even though the identity of the shooter is known the police are yet to determine the motive behind the shooting.
The gunman had approached van Beek’s car and fired a single shot just days after she had given a report to the High Court in her capacity as Judicial Manager of the troubled CLICO (Guyana). The bullet hit her in her chest and she had to be hospitalised for several days.
Van Beek secured an order from the court in February to place CLICO (Guyana) under judicial management prior to the winding up of the company; she was also appointed Judicial Manager. The decision came following the move by the Bahamas Supreme Court to order the liquidation of CLICO (Bahamas). CLICO (Bahamas) held 53% of the assets of CLICO (Guyana) at the end of 2007.
According to reports, van Beek was stuck in a long line of traffic at the junction of Lombard and Leopold streets during a heavy downpour when a gunman walked up to her vehicle and fired a single shot through the driver’s side window.
He jumped on a waiting motorcycle parked on Leopold Street and fled.
