A long-serving police officer was yesterday charged with conspiracy to murder businessman Mohamed Khan, whose decapitated corpse was found at Cummings Lodge last year.
Leon Lindo, who was attached to the Tactical Services Unit (TSU), was implicated in Khan’s death after he was identified by alleged hitman Lennox Wayne as one of the persons who was responsible for the murder of the businessman.
The indictable charge against Lindo was read by Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry yesterday at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court 1.
Between July 8 and July 10, 2014, at Eve Leary, Lindo allegedly conspired with Lennox Wayne to murder Khan, the charge stated.
Police Prosecutor Bharat Mangru said investigators learned from Wayne, called ‘Two Colours,’ that there was a plot involving the policeman to murder Khan.
Between July 8 and July 10, 2014, the businessman was shot and on August 21, he went missing, Mangru further said, while adding that on September 21, a headless body was discovered. Samples were then taken from the body and were sent for analysis. The results confirmed that the remains were those of Khan.
But attorney Tanicia Daniels, who appeared for Lindo in association with attorney Glenn Hanoman, contended that her client was innocent of the charge.
“He wants this case to be ventilated so that he will be vindicated,” Daniels told the court, while reassuring the court that her client will commit to be present at every hearing so as to clear his name.
The policeman, a father of three who has been in the force for 23 years, learned that he would be charged for the offence on Wednesday. “He dressed to come court today and arrived at work early,” the attorney said, while noting that he was fully cooperating with investigators and attended all the required interviews and provided answers to every question he was required to answer.
While Mangru objected to bail, Daniels said Lindo posed no risk of flight and she requested that bail be granted to him since the offence is bailable.
However, bail was refused and Lindo was ordered to return to court on June 12th.
Police sent a file to the Director of Public Prosecutions with respect to three persons–a retired Assistant Commissioner of Police and two policemen—who were all detained and questioned after a murder accused implicated them in the murder of the businessman. However, the advice recommended that one of the officers be charged internally for the neglect of duty and there was insufficient evidence to lay charges against the other.
Khan was last heard from on August 21st, last year and he was reported missing last October. He had travelled to Guyana from his home in Venezuela, where he lived with his wife and their children to meet with his attorney.
In September, Khan’s decapitated corpse was found at Cummings Lodge, East Coast Demerara. One of the legs from the corpse was missing from the knee down, while the other foot of the other leg was apparently severed. His head, which was in a plastic bag, was found nearby.
Khan’s wife later identified the corpse to be that of her husband, based on the pants and belt he was wearing. A scar of a gunshot wound, from what was believed to be a failed hit on him, was also visible on his stomach.
Given the state of the decomposition of the corpse, an autopsy that was later performed was inconclusive.
Following his disappearance, relatives and close associates had pointed fingers at a businessman, who they said owed Khan some $80 million.
Khan was the owner of MFK Trading.
