Winston Miller, the Bartica night club owner who was brutalised by police, has lost the vision in his left eye and has been told that he may never see from it again.
Miller is now preparing to travel to Trinidad and Tobago to see what could be done and he is upset that he now has to find some $900, 000 to offset expenses while the Guyana Police Force “drag their feet on the investigation.”
Crime Chief Seelall Persaud could only say when contacted that the matter is in the hands of the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR). A distraught Miller, meanwhile, told Stabroek News that last week he visited Dr. Neeraj Jain, an ophthalmologist at the Dr. Balwant Singh Hospital Inc., with a complaint of loss of vision, pain and watering in his left eyes He said that the doctor examined him and later referred him to doctor Dr. Bruno Mitchell in Trinidad for his expert opinion. The businessman noted that he asked the doctor for his prognosis and was told that there were poor hopes that he would regain vision in the eye. “I had asked him for the truth and he told me. I wasn’t prepared for that news but at my age I have to accept life and whatever happens. I am big, I am old enough to understand,” he said.
About nine years ago, Miller, 68, underwent surgery for a retinal detachment. He said the problem recurred after a police ranks hit him in the temple during the June 6 assault. Miller noted that the surgery can be done here but since Dr. Mitchell had done the first operation, he was being referred to him.
He said when he leaves for Trinidad he would have to find about $900,000, which would cover expenses, including a surgery if one is required. “I have to foot the bill myself. The ranks who did this to me should be helping me out because it was they who caused the injury,” an upset Miller added.
Miller also noted that he contacted the police about the investigation and was told that when it has concluded the press will be informed. “I am not satisfied with that because I am spending money all the time. I am looking after my medical bills right now and the police cannot come and say something.”
He said that recently he spoke with the officer in charge of the Bartica Police Station–where the ranks had been attached at the time of the incident, and showed him papers from the doctor but was told nothing. “I hope the ranks involved will be prosecuted to the fullest extent to the law. If it wasn’t someone of my prominence it would have been swept away. I am not backing down though, I will fight them to the last not only for me but others because this can happen to anybody,” he stressed.
Miller was afraid that the ranks may be transferred to another area and will continue to brutalise citizens. Presently, they are at the Tactical Services Unit (TSU) where they are said to be under close arrest.
The man noted that Barticians are still concerns about the way the junior ranks in the community are handling matters, especially those involving Brazilians. “They come to get rich… The force is out of hand and they now seem to be bigger than the government. My case is just one of many. People are afraid to come out because of victimisation,” Miller added. Since the incident, he said, ranks have been very courteous, something the community hasn’t seen for a long time. Miller is grateful to his fellow Barticians for their support and the way they spoke out for him and themselves following the incident and at the subsequent community meeting with top officers of the Division.
The assault reportedly stemmed after a uniformed cadet officer was refused entry into Miller’s night club when he failed to pay the $1000 entrance fee. At the time, the club was hosting the third round of the Ms Bootilicious pageant, where the contestants were modelling bedroom wear. Reports are that the infuriated rank went to the Bartica Police Station, changed into his uniform and returned with three other policemen. Miller subsequently identified himself to the policemen, who tried to arrest him. When he refused to go into their pick-up, a gun was pointed at him by one of the ranks and he was subsequently assaulted, resulting in the damage to his eye. A patron, Javid Hamid tried to defend Miller but was gun butted.