Four persons have been taken into custody following the torching of eight vehicles, a house and a shack with a horse stable attached in `C’ Field, Sophia on Election Night.
After alleging that ballot boxes were in the PPP/C command centre located in the area residents became perturbed.
Crime Chief Leslie James told Stabroek News yesterday that the joint services would still be patrolling the area of the violence and up to early evening investigator were at the scene.
Stabroek News attempted to make contact with Pastor Narine Khublall who owns the private residence and PPP/C member Joseph Hamilton who were holed up in the command centre on election night but to no avail.
When this newspaper visited the area yesterday residents said that there had been no activity at the charred house. Members of the Joint Services were manning a road block as police collected evidence. A GDF truck was on site with over 15 soldiers in waiting should there services have been required, however the crowds had dissipated and those who remained were calm and apathetic to the scene around them.
During a press briefing yesterday afternoon at Freedom House President Donald Ramotar did not make any statements in relation to the violence that occurred.
On election night members of the Joint Services were in `C’ Field Sophia trying to restore calm after angry residents took to the streets and rioted.
It was a chaotic scene as ranks fired warning shots at the massive crowd which remained unmoved. Two men, Terrence Clarkson and Glaston Peters had to be rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital after pellets struck them in the eye. Stabroek News also saw three persons including two young women who had pellet wounds to varying parts of their bodies.
It all started sometime before 6 pm when the command centre came under attack after residents alleged that they saw
ballot boxes being taken there. Stabroek News was told by a rank on the scene that a team from the coalition had visited the location earlier and found no ballot boxes on the premises. But people were not satisfied and the crowd grew as residents continued to insist that ballot boxes were taken there and that there was some voting earlier in the day. Within an hour, there was a mammoth crowd and the ranks on the scene struggled to maintain control. It was later agreed that AFC member and attorney Joel Edmond along with a resident and members of the media would go in and conduct a search of the building. This was done and nothing was found. However, before long, persons began throwing bottles and the stones at the building.
Hamilton, who said he was in charge of the command centre, explained that food for the staff there was transported in three large containers. These containers are almost similar in size and style to the ones used as ballot boxes. A check of the containers which were in a minibus parked a short distance away revealed that it was only boxes of food that was inside. The bus was later overturned by the angry residents.
