A nurse says she is now traumatised after being locked-up last week in connection with the fatal stabbing of Annandale businessman Kamall “Ricky” Ramsahoye, as police say the last call made to the man was traced to her phone.
Ramsahoye was found dead at his residence on the morning of Sunday, December 9, with seven stab wounds to his abdomen and three to his back. The murder baffled members of his family, since his house was a virtual fortress, enclosed by a concrete fence which stands over 8 feet tall and with the only portals of entry to the yard being two metal fences whose height matched that of the wall and which are outfitted with pointed fixtures on top. In addition to these external defences, each window and door of the house was securely grilled.
The news of the man’s death did not mean anything to Celeste Johnson, a Nurse and Departmental Supervisor at the Georgetown Pub- lic Hospital Corporation (GPHC), until she was forced to spend a night in detention at the Beterverwagting (BV) Police Station, after she was unable to explain who allegedly made the call from the landline registered to her and what the purpose of the call was.
Speaking to Stabroek News yesterday, a hurt and embarrassed Johnson said that at about 3pm on Wednesday, December 13, she was visited at her Prashad Nagar residence by two police officers—a uniformed female and a plain clothes detective.
When she went out to the officers, they asked her if the telephone number they were in possession of belonged to her. Johnson said that after confirming that the number was hers, the ranks told her about the robbery and murder. At this point, she said, she began to wonder why police were informing her of this incident since she was not even aware of the existence of Ramsahoye or any of his relatives. Eventually, the ranks explained that according to intelligence they had gathered, at about 7:48pm on the night before Ramsahoye’s body was discovered, a call was made from her landline to his and that they were trying to determine who made the call and for what purpose.
Johnson said she explained to the police that this could not be possible since she was at work from 1pm to 9pm on the day in question, which meant that she was not at home at the time the call was allegedly made from her phone. She further stated that the only persons at her home during that time were four children—a 16-year-old, two 14-year-olds, and a two-year-old—all her nieces and nephews. There were no adults at home with the children, she said.
After receiving this information, she said the officers informed her that they needed to take her to the Prashad Nagar Police Outpost so that they could record information relating to whether or not there were marks of violence on her person. After recording this information, she said she was then ferried to the Vigilance Police Station to give a statement, which she did. She said that in addition to her own statement, the detective spoke with hospital security, who confirmed that Johnson was indeed on duty at the hospital on the date and at the time in question.
‘Like a criminal’
Johnson said even after receiving this information, the police informed her that until they were instructed to do otherwise, they would be detaining her.
She said she was instructed to take off the jewellery she was wearing at the time as well as her other possessions, and give them to her husband, who was accompanying her. She was later taken to the BV police station and placed in a holding cell.
An obviously angry Johnson stated that while being ferried to BV, she was escorted in a police open back vehicle with an armed rank sitting beside her in the cab of the car, and another three armed ranks in the back. She questioned the necessity for such treatment, stating that she was not even charged, nor did she pose any threat.
Johnson spent the night of December 13 in the BV lock-ups. Commenting on the conditions of the holding cell she was placed in, she said there was nowhere for her to sit. As a result, she stood for several hours before exhaustion drove her to sit on the floor.
According to Johnson, she was treated like a criminal, and when her cousin went to visit her in the lock-ups, they were told that she could receive no visitors.
Johnson said that around midday the next day, she overhead some of the officers saying “we supposed to be carrying back a nurse.” Shortly after, a rank told her, “nursey you going back now.”
According to Johnson, she was escorted back to the Vigilance Police Station by an unarmed female rank, and was made to post $50,000 bail in order to be released. She said that the children who were at home at the time of the alleged call were also brought to the station, where all but the two-year-old were required to give statements about their activities on the night the call was made to Ramsahoye’s residence.
Johnson said she was puzzled as to why the police would target her and her family, and suggested that some mistake must have been made in their intelligence gathering. She said the based on what she learned, Ramsahoye’s premises were fully secured by high fences, and that grills secured every entrance to the man’s house. Given these particulars, she suggested that the police should be investigating persons who were close to the family, since it seems Ramsahoye was killed by someone he knew.
Johnson says the ordeal has left her ill, physically, and scarred emotionally.
