A 54-year-old resident of No. 8 Village, West Coast Berbice said he was beaten by the police around 11 pm on Friday and locked up for two days even though he did not commit any offence.
Gregory Reynolds, a rice farmer/taxi driver who was asked to return to the station this morning told Stabroek News that he intends to take the matter to the Police Complaints Authority tomorrow. Police commanders have not been speaking to the media so it was not possible to get a comment from the police on Reynolds’ allegations yesterday.
He visited the doctor upon his release yesterday morning and was in severe pain about his body.
He said the police kicked and cuffed him and he is still baffled as to why he received such inhumane treatment.
He recalled that around 6:30 pm “two police vehicles and a private car went into the village looking for somebody they said assaulted a woman.”
At the same time he was standing at the bus shed with four other persons awaiting transportation to go out. He said a policeman “asked me if I know ‘London’ and I said no.
The officer then told him to “move from here [off the road]…” but he remained.
He was shocked when a vehicle with seven police officers showed up at his house and woke him up. He asked what they wanted and they said they wanted to “talk to me.”
Reynolds said “as soon as I go in the yard they kicked down the gate and started to beat me. I raise up my hands and said man wah y’all beating me for and one said ‘you ain’t looking after wah we beating you fuh…’”
According to him, they then grabbed him and threw him in the pick-up and kicked him and lashed him with the gun-butt.
The police then took him to the station and one of them – [a young officer] “chucked me and I said ‘look brother, this is enough. I would like to see the person in charge and he said he is the [expletive] man in charge of the station.”
He pointed out that “I would like the people in authority and the public to know what these police are doing. Up to now I don’t know why they treated me like that.”
