After months of silence, ex-Attorney General Anil Nandlall yesterday denied that he threatened slain political activist Courtney Crum-Ewing or was involved in his murder even as he distanced himself from a former bodyguard who has been arrested in connection with the probe.
At a news conference at the Sleepin Hotel, Nandlall confirmed that he did hire Rajput Narine, who was held on Wednesday, as a bodyguard but emphasised that he did so after Crum-Ewing’s death.
“Why would I retain somebody to be part of a plot? I would have to be very stupid to be involved in Mr. Crum-Ewing’s shooting, then go and hire subsequently a person who apparently has some connection with this killing and then make that person my bodyguard. I have to be insane,” he said.
Narine, who is a former Customs Anti-Narcotic Unit (CANU) officer and a current employee of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), is one of two men being held by police in connection with the murder. Both he and the other man, who is suspected to be the shooter, remained in police custody up to press time. Police continue to search for a third person.
Crum-Ewing, a 40-year-old father of three, was shot five times on March 10th in the Diamond Housing Scheme, where he was urging persons to head to vote the PPP/C out of office at the May elections.
For weeks he had held a one-man protest outside Nandlall’s office and called for his removal over statements the former AG had made during a telephone conversation with a reporter that was made public.
Nandlall yesterday broke his silence after reports of his association with the Narine were published yesterday morning.
For months it has been alleged that Nandlall and another PPP member had threatened Crum-Ewing, which resulted in a report being lodged at the Brickdam Police Station. This was denied by Nandlall. “I never spoke with Crum-Ewing, I never threatened Crum-Ewing. I had no interaction whatsoever with Mr. Crum-Ewing,” he said.
Prior to the man’s death, he said he was never contacted by the police with regards to the reports and he was not aware of anyone from the party being questioned with respect to the investigation.
Police have consistently sidestepped queries about whether Nandlall and the other person who had allegedly threatened the man were ever questioned as part of the investigation.
Wild allegations
Reading from a prepared statement yesterday, Nandlall emphasised that Narine was hired on March 15th, several days after Crum-Ewing was gunned down. He said he fired Narine four days after he was retained because he was informed that he was giving out information about their whereabouts.
Nandlall said he had hired Narine after he met the man’s brother during a meeting in New York, where he had accompanied former president Donald Ramotar. In New York, he said, Ramotar held several meetings with the Guyanese community and at one of those meetings he met an old acquaintance, Anter Narine.
“As we were chatting, the Crum-Ewing issue came up and I told him that I was advised to hire a personal security upon my return and that I intend to do so,” Nandlall said. Anter Narine, he added, then asked him to consider hiring his brother in Guyana, Rajput Narine, whom he described as a former CANU Officer and a licensed firearm holder and a person that he could trust.
Nandlall said upon his return to Guyana he made contact with the man and later met with him. “I never knew him before, never spoke with him before and never saw him before. I met him on the 15th day of March, 2015, for the first time,” he stressed.
According to Nandlall, he met Narine in the presence of his driver, who did know the man, and learned that he was in the employ of the GRA. He said he wrote the Commissioner General Khurshid Sattaur and requested his secondment. “After about 4 days, I was dissatisfied with his performance, generally. More importantly, my drivers reported that he was disclosing our whereabouts to persons on his telephone. As a result, I told him that I will no longer require his services and sent him away. I took back a vehicle which was assigned to him as a backup to my vehicle,” he said.
He said too that he also informed the Commissioner General in writing that he had fired Narine.
Subsequently, Nandlall said he made a request to the Commissioner of Police for two members of the police force to serve as his security detail. Two officers were subsequently assigned to him, Nandlall said, before adding that they were recalled when he demitted office.
“I hope I have clearly demonstrated that I only came into contact with Rajput Narine after the death of Courtney Crum-Ewing. I take this opportunity to deny any involvement whatsoever in that incident and to say that there is obviously an attempt to implicate me and the PPP in this horrendous act as part of a political design,” he said before voicing his hope that the perpetrators are brought to justice.
Nandlall said that at the time of the murder he was at a political meeting in Timehri, where about 100 people were in attendance. He said that he heard about the death of Crum-Ewing while travelling back to the city and soon after “wild allegations begun to be made, implying that the PPP was involved in this killing.”
When asked for a reaction to revelations made by Shawn Hinds about the PPP’s involvement in extra judicial killings, Nandlall said that he called a press conference to speak only about his name being associated with the Crum-Ewing murder investigation. “The PPP will answer all the questions that you may have…” he said before acknowledging that he is a leader of the party. “Perhaps when I am at Freedom House as part of a PPP press conference I can field those questions but I would not like to deal with these questions here,” he said.
‘Not a security conscious person’
Nandlall admitted that he did not do any background check on Narine and added that in light of what has transpired that might have been a mistake on his part.
“Perhaps, yes. I am not a security-conscious person and I would admit that perhaps a greater background examination should have been done by me,” he said. In addition to not doing a background check, Nandlall said that he did not ask for any references.
“I assumed that he was a person of good character, that is why he has a firearm licence and that is a ground upon which one gets a firearm licence… that is what the Firearms Act says,” he added.
Asked if he knew who Narine might have been passing the information on his whereabouts to, Nandlall said, “No, no, I don’t. I never inquired. I just felt it was self-defeating and not in the best interest of my personal safety that a person who ought to be responsible for my safety would be disclosing my whereabouts during that period. It was the elections period.”
Pressed on whether he has some suspicions as to who Narine was in communication with, he said, “No. I was busy on the elections campaign trail. I could not at that time entertain any distractions, so I just got rid of what I thought was an unsatisfactory state of affairs.”
Nandlall stated too that he never thought that he should have called in the police after he learnt of the man’s actions. “No. I requested from the police two security details and I got rid of what I thought was a weakness in my security apparatus,” he said before stressing that he did not have reason to go to the police. He informed that the option to get officers from the force to perform protection duties was always available. He went on to explain that he was offered an option to take officers from the force or get his own person security. “I went that way first and when I realised that it didn’t work out, I then resorted to the option to taking officers from the first,” he said.
Asked to explain Sattaur’s granting permission to have Narine transferred to be a personal bodyguard, Nandlall said that the greenlight was given on the same day he hired the man. “Public officers are seconded as far as I am aware from one department or one agency to another. It is not anything unusual,” he said, while noting that Narine, just like a police officer, was a public officer. “I didn’t see any problem in that regard,” he said.
Nandlall said that he has no interest in finding out more about Narine’s arrest. He could not say if the man was associated with the PPP or was a former bodyguard for former Home Affairs Minister Ronald Gajraj.
Stabroek News has learnt that Narine worked at CANU for about 10 years before migrating. When he returned several years ago, he had reapplied to CANU but was turned down. He later landed a job at GRA.
Fearful
Meanwhile, Nandlall said that he was concerned about his safety. “My desire has always been to serve the people. I have no other objective. I have no other aspiration. And when one looks at the problems that befall you as you attempt to do public service, then you really have to question and consider whether it is worth it. I left a very successful legal practice to enter into government and to serve the people of Guyana and you have to face all of these problems. At some point in time, as a human being, you have to do an introspection and see whether it is worth it. There is so much ingratitude in doing what you set out to do,” he said.
Asked if he was suggesting plans to bring an end to his political career, Nandlall said no and added that he was just taking into account what is happening now. “I am saying that I am doing some introspection to see whether this entire thing is worth it,” he said.
Much of Nandlall’s woes began after the recorded phone conversation between him and Kaieteur News reporter Leonard Gildarie was released late last year. In the expletive-laden conversation which was recorded by Kaieteur News, Nandlall is heard issuing threats and soliciting information on a KN reporter who his uncle wanted to have a relationship with. Ironically, it was the revelations in this conversation which prompted Crum-Ewing to picket Nandlall’s office on a daily basis.
Meanwhile as it relates to the Crum-Ewing investigation, Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum said that the two men in custody were further questioned yesterday. He said that another individual, who is being sought, is yet to be arrested.
The other man in custody is a remanded prisoner who police managed to link to the crime through an illegal gun which was found in his home last Monday. When police descended on his Georgetown home, acting on information received, the man fled. However, he turned himself in the following day and was later placed before the court on a gun charge. Ballistic tests conducted on the .32 pistol matched the Crum Ewing crime scene.
