At least five persons, including Kurt Thierens and Colin Jones–also suspects in the Ministry of Health’s fire, had been identified as participating in the attacks that saw two police stations being shot at and arson attempts on the High Court and the Richard Ishmael Secondary School. Adding its voice to condemnation of the attacks, the Private Sector Commission (PSC) said it would press for an urgent meeting with the Head of the US Embassy here to ascertain whether the American government will provide necessary assistance to government to locate those believed to be connected with what it labelled the “terrorist acts” of Wednesday.
In a statement yesterday, the PSC said it is concerned by President Bharrat Jagdeo’s admission that the US has been unresponsive to the administration’s approach for assistance in finding “the person or persons resident in the USA” that are reportedly connected to the attacks. The PSC’s statement follows Jagdeo’s public call to them among other groups to condemn Wednesday’s early morning rampage in the city. “The emergence of a heavily armed criminal gang clearly intent on the destabilisation of the country and damaging its international image is cause for national concern and must be roundly condemned by the entire country, regardless of personal political affiliation,” the PSC said. The private sector body finds it “inconceivable” that the US government would withhold support from any democratic government which seeks assistance in “confronting terrorism”, the statement added.
Answers
Yesterday too, the mother of Woodette Roberts, the lone casualty of the series of attacks, called on police to conduct a full investigation since she is not satisfied with the story being told. Carmen Roberts made this plea as she finalized arrangements for her son’s funeral which will be held today at Kuru Kururu.
A post mortem examination conducted at the Georgetown Hospital Mor-tuary yesterday revealed that Woodette died from asphyxiation compounded by compression to the neck. According to Carmen, the story being recounted to her sounds complicated and she wants a police investigation because she needs to know how and why her son died. She, however, expressed doubt about a possible link between the circumstances of her son’s death and the mayhem in the city that occurred hours later. “…Why would the criminals want to hijack the vehicle come to town, conduct the rampage and then risk passing police road blocks to go all the way up the highway,” the woman questioned, stressing that it all does not sound “right” to her.
She made it clear that she is not accusing anyone of being responsible for what happened but she needs to know the truth. She stated that she saw Roopchand Gopaul, the driver of the Tacoma vehicle they were in when they were hijacked in a bus yesterday and he was trembling and crying. Carmen said that she called out to the man and he told her he also doesn’t understand what happened but was sad that her son has died.
According to her, Roopchand “ain’t look good at all.” The man had also visited the doctor as he was feeling unwell.
Roberts had left his home at around 9 pm on Tuesday in a gold coloured Toyota Tacoma pick-up, GLL 7171, driven by Gopaul, 38, with Sean Embleton, called ‘Deportee Sean,’ 25, as the other occupant. The three men were intercepted and abducted by eight men, dressed in black clothing resembling police uniforms and bullet proof vests, who claimed to be searching for arms and ammunition. The armed men handcuffed Roberts, Gopaul and Embleton and placed them in the tray of the Tacoma pick-up and transported them to Dora. Both Gopaul, who reportedly ran all the way from Dora to Kuru Kururu, and Embleton managed to escape from their captors, while Roberts was later found dead.
Police have since said that the pick-up was hijacked and used to launch gun attacks on the Brickdam Police Station, East Ruimveldt Outpost and arson on the High Court and the school.
Questions have been raised as to how the gunmen would have made it through the many road blocks that would have been set up in wake of the city attacks and why they would have driven all that distance to where the vehicle was found, instead and abandoning the vehicle somewhere in the city.
Swift justice
Meanwhile, the ruling PPP on Thursday condemned what it dubbed the “vicious terrorist attacks” and urged the security forces to bring the perpetrators to swift justice. In a press statement, the party said, “The terrorist group seems to have been emboldened by the sustained attacks by the opposition parties and a section of the media on the institutions of the state.” It noted that the terrorist gang has focused its assault on the justice system, the court and the chief law enforcement agency and a secondary school.
The attacks were also dubbed “terrorist acts” by Police Commissioner Henry Greene, who has linked the suspects to the previous Health Ministry arson.
The PPP said the group seems to include some remnants of an earlier gang that had been disbanded by the security forces. The same intellectual authors based locally and overseas are clearly bent on upsetting the calm in the society in order to advance their narrow political agenda, it added.
Saying the modus operandi is reminiscent of the attack on the health ministry earlier this year, the PPP urged the security forces to keep focused on their efforts of catching the group responsible for the atrocities so that justice will be served and before it creates further mayhem.
