A man suspected to be involved in the execution of Trinidad and Tobago State Prosecutor Dana Seetahal is reported to be on vacation in Guyana, with local authorities watching his every move.
This is according to a report in the Trinidad Newsday newspaper, which stated that local police and other authorities are “closely monitoring” the man. Stabroek News made several attempts to confirm the contents of the report with senior members of the Guyana Police Force yesterday but could not. Crime Chief Leslie James said he would have to check on the information that was being relayed to him by this newspaper.
Seetahal was killed on May 4, when gunmen ambushed her after she left a casino. She was shot five times.
Newsday said that the person of interest in Seetahal’s murder, who is in his early thirties, left for Guyana last week. He stated on his travel documents that he was going on vacation. He has been described as key to the investigation into Seetahal’s murder.
Newsday said that it understands immigration authorities immediately alerted officers of the local Criminal Gang and Intelligence Unit as well as the Homicide Bureau. On the man’s arrival in Guyana, the authorities here were asked by the Trinidad police to closely monitor the man.
According to the publication, sources revealed that up to Sunday the man was still in Guyana. Information reaching Newsday is that this is not the first time that the man has travelled to Guyana. “Sources revealed the man’s whereabouts are being closely monitored by an elite intelligence unit in Guyana, which has been relaying information back to authorities in this country,” the report said, while adding that it is understood that there is no travel restrictions on the man although he has been identified as key to the Seetahal probe.
He was constantly being monitored by officers of the Criminal Gang and Intelligence Unit and sources quoted in the Newsday report revealed that members of the National Security Council have been informed of the man’s travel to Guyana.
According to the report, the authorities in Trinidad are trying to determine if the man travelled to Guyana to use the country as a route to travel to another country, possibly Venezuela, to secure travel documents to move onto the Middle East.
Newsday made contact with National Security Minister Gary Griffith on Sunday and he confirmed that he had been informed that the man had left Trinidad last week but also said he could provide no further details because of the sensitive nature of the matter.
However police sources told the newspaper that officers of the Homicide Bureau were awaiting critical feedback from the Federal Bureau of Investigations before the Director of Public Prosecutions is approached to arrest and prosecute at least six persons in the Dana Seetahal murder. The man is believed to be among the six persons to be arrested.
