Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Shalimar Ali-Hack has raised an alarm over the police’s investigation of serious crimes, saying that case files show “poor and inadequate” work that has left several murders, including all that were committed in ‘D’ Division last year, unsolved.
In a strongly-worded letter to Police Commissioner (ag) Leroy Brumell, dated January 29, 2013, Ali-Hack said in some cases files are only sent to the DPP’s chambers for advice after an inordinate delay and she cited the suspected Bel Air Park murder/suicide of March, 2010, for which the file was received almost three years after and showed that investigators “overlooked obvious clues” of a double murder.
“This unacceptable trend is ultimately impacting on the effective functioning of the DPP’s office,” she wrote. Stabroek News, which has seen a copy of the letter, has learnt that it was received by Brumell on February 12.
From all indications, Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee took his cue from the DPP when he too noted the long list of unsolved serious crimes, including execution-type murders, at the Police Officers’ conference earlier month. He warned that the situation suggested that the police force “lacks the ability or will” to solve high-profile cases.
Ali-Hack has proposed that as soon as a report is received by police for serious offences, the police file should be taken immediately to the DPP’s office for the necessary advice. It is unclear whether Brumell replied but this newspaper has confirmed that copies of the letter were dispatched to Crime Chief Seelall Persaud and other senior members of the police force.
In her letter, Ali-Hack said that “the poor state of investigations” of serious crimes, such as murder, manslaughter, rape and armed robbery, is resulting in charges not being instituted and persons committing crimes that remain unsolved.
She added that the situation is compounded by the police’s failure to seek advice from her office, especially in serious cases, and the delays in meeting her requests for files when cases are brought to her attention. At the same time, she observed that it was particularly “distressing and disturbing” that files for less serious offences or in cases where there is no evidence or suspect are speedily referred to her office.
In order to ensure efficient police investigation and ultimately successful prosecutions, Ali-Hack requested that a system be put in place to ensure that police files for serious offences are brought to the DPP’s office for legal advice within 72 hours of the receipt of the report. “This is so especially in murder cases, so that advice may be given pertinent to the investigations. Lengthy delays in obtaining advice in many cases have resulted in crucial investigations not being done by the police which results in the lack of important evidence required to establish the offence,” she noted.
‘Unsolved’
Ali-Hack singled out ‘D’ Division, where within the last year there have been several murders but “poor investigations” done by the police resulted in no person being charged. “They all remain unsolved onto now,” she said.
The DPP said that one such unsolved case is that of “Moneer Khan,” whose battered body was found at the Blankenburg Foreshore, West Coast Demerara on October 23, 2012. Relatives had told Stabroek News that the man’s name was “Muneer Hussain,” a 77-year-old Canada-based Guyanese.
According to the DPP, this police file that was received showed “glaring and inadequate” police investigations. She noted that from the photographs taken and even some of the statements provided by the investigating ranks, it was evident that the man was found in a kneeling position with his underpants pulled down. He also sustained severe abrasions on both knees, which was an indication that severe pressure had been applied to him whilst in that kneeling position on a hard surface. In addition to this, she said, there were also apparent fingernail scratches on both sides of his abdomen, going upwards. “These are all signs pointing to one logical conclusion: that Moneer Khan was apparently sodomised,” she said. “None of this was reflected in the coroner’s report and neither was it addressed by the pathologist since no mention was made on the post mortem report and there is no evidence that this part of Moneer Khan’s anatomy was ever examined by the pathologist,” she added.
According to Ali-Hack, Khan’s case is just one of several unsolved murders in the Division in which the files, when eventually brought to her chambers, reflected “poor and inadequate” police work.
Other cases, she said include the murder of Bebe Jahooral Banu, of De Willem, which occurred between December 31, 2011 and January 1, 2012; Afrozie Ali, whose nude body was found in the Zeelugt Cemetery on January 15, 2012; and the triple murder of Jennifer Persaud and her two children, Jadon and Afridi at Anna Catherina, which occurred between September 22 and 23, 2012.
The DPP said that in the case of the drowning of Sideek Juman at Double Day Hotel in November, 2012 and the death of Natasha Nizamudeen on December 18, 2012, neither file was sent to the chamber for legal advice. Nizamudeen was found hanging in her in her step mother’s home at Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo. “I had requested them after they were brought to my attention either in the press or through the visit to the Chambers by relatives of the deceased. After I requested them they took a long time to come,” she noted.
Ali-Hack also highlighted files for which requests have been met but have not been forwarded to the chambers. She said that the list includes two separate files involving Denis Rampersaud, for the offence of carnal knowledge, which were requested since 2010 (this is being handled by the Kitty Police Station); the file in relation to the alleged rape committed by Azad Mohamed (Springlands Police Station), a case in which the DPP had advised in June 2011 that further investigations be conducted; and the file in the case of Ravin Beharry—charged with committing sexual offences on two underage girls, including a 13-year-old—for which the request had been pending since October 21, 2011 (Suddie Police Station).
‘Double murder’
Ali-Hack also cited the case of the March 4, 2010 discovery of the decomposing remains of Dr Guillermo Martinez, a 58-year-old physiotherapist and 47-year-old Usawatie Persaud in a house at Eping Avenue, Bel Air, which was suspected to be the result of a murder-suicide.
However, she said it supported her concerns about the inordinate time the police take before sending a file for advice and the poor state of investigations. She said that the case file was sent to the chambers 34 months after the discovery. “When it finally arrived, it showed quite clearly that the ranks were not thorough and overlooked many obvious clues that pointed to a double murder. It is evident from the post mortem examination reports that this was a double murder but due to poor police investigations no person has been charged and this double murder remains unsolved,” she stated.
Although police had previously blamed limited forensics capability and the lack of cooperation from witnesses for this situation, security sources have told this newspaper that it all comes down to sloppy investigations. A source told Stabroek News last month that high-profile killings are “a complex matter,” while noting that the longer it takes to get the breakthrough, the higher the chances that the case would remain unsolved. Asked what is lacking, the source pointed out that there needs to be proper police investigations. “The earlier you predict the facts, the better,” the source said, while noting that forensics is not something that independently solves crimes. The source said crimes are solved by investigators as they are the ones who are required to gather the evidence, to find the witness and to find the motive.
-says ‘poor’ investigations leaving murders unsolved