– whereabouts are known, says Hughes
The Guyana Police Force is seeking the aid of the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) to find the two local policemen who have fled to evade a murder charge over the fatal shooting teenager Shaquille Grant.
The move to seek the assistance of Interpol is an indication that one or both of the men may have already fled the country.
Crime Chief Seelall Persaud told Stabroek News yesterday that all efforts are being made to capture Lance Corporal Warren Blue and Special Constable Jamal Lewis, for whom the force had issued wanted bulletins last week.
They did not appear in court last Tuesday when the charge was read to their colleague Constable Terrence Wallace, who was accused of murdering Grant at Agricola on September 11.
As a result, arrest warrants were issued for Blue and Lewis by the court.
Persaud said yesterday that there is no new information on the whereabouts of the men. But so far, he added, the police force has “blacklisted” them, issued wanted bulletins for them and applied to Interpol for assistance in locating them.
According to Persaud, with Interpol there is a process. He said that Interpol first has to see if enough information has been provided before it is circulated around the world.
However, Alliance For Change (AFC) Chairman Nigel Hughes, while not wanting to do into details, said his party had information that one of the policemen is hiding out in the interior, while the other managed to flee the country. Hughes did not name the country and only said that it is “on the continent of South America.”
Hughes, who was addressing reporters outside Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee’s Camp Street office where a picketing exercise was being held, said that though the party was armed with this information, it wanted to give the police an opportunity to find the men before acting.
It is alleged that on September 11, 2012, the three policemen, who were on an operation in the community observed some young men under a shed in a yard and proceeded towards them. Grant, 17, was shot some time later.
The killing of Grant, of Lot 72 ‘BB’ Eccles, East Bank Demerara, was met with outrage in Agricola, as eyewitnesses said one officer was seen standing over the teen as he fired bullets into his body. Since them his relatives, with the backing of the joint opposition and civil activists have been holding picketing exercises to demand justice.
It also took some time for the charge to be instituted against the three policemen. Prior to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) giving the recommendation for them to be charged with the capital offence, Grant’s relatives had told the media that they had received information that two of the policemen had fled.
The police, in issuing the wanted bulletins, said that Blue and Lewis failed to appear in court to answer the charge and consequently arrest warrants have been issued for them by the court.
The bulletin described Blue as being of African descent, with a height of 171 centimetres, of brown complexion and of medium build. Police gave his last known address as Lot 30 Second Street, Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara. Police said Lewis is also of African descent, with a height of 173.7 centimetres, thin build, and his last known address was Lot 100 South Better Hope, East Coast Demerara.
