Politician Mark Benschop says there was a $3M contract on his life that was offered to one of the men held over the killing of political activist Courtney Crum-Ewing and police apparently did not act when they were informed.
Rajput Narine, a onetime bodyguard of former Attorney General Anil Nandlall, and Regan Rodrigues, who has a long rap sheet, both remain in custody in connection with the Crum-Ewing murder. It is unclear whether the police have evidence to charge either of the two with the crime.
Up to press time, after several failed attempts, the police were still to contact Benschop to go over details of a conversation where Rodrigues allegedly admitted that he was offered $3M to kill Benschop.
Benschop, while expressing fears for his safety, said it was claimed that after the contract on him, there was supposed to be another—ostensibly Crum-Ewing. Benschop said that the information from Rodrigues had been passed on to the police prior to Crum-Ewing’s killing but they did nothing with it.
Police investigators are said to be looking for a third individual in connection with the Crum-Ewing’s murder.
Contacted yesterday about the claims made by Benschop and whether police were interested in speaking with him, Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum told Stabroek News that he wished not to comment on any matter related to the probe. He stressed that at the moment the police are conducting investigations and intend to send a file to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) early next week for advice.
This newspaper has since learnt that there is an audio recording of Rodrigues saying that he had told the police about the intended plot prior to and after the March 10th execution of Crum-Ewing, a political activist. Crum-Ewing was shot dead while urging residents of Diamond, East Bank Demerara to head to the polls and vote the PPP/C out of office. Benschop has since said that at the appropriate time he will release more information on his conversation with Rodrigues to the public.
Benschop yesterday told Stabroek News that sometime during the early part of this year—he could not say exactly when but knew it was before March 10th—a very nervous and emotional Rodrigues came to his office claiming he had been offered the $3M to kill him.
Rodrigues, Benschop said, related that he could not bring himself to do such a thing as he viewed Benschop as a good who worked for poor people. It was because of this he decided to go to Benschop to inform him of the plot.
Benschop said that within a day or two after speaking to Rodrigues at his office, he understands that the man went to CID Headquarters, Eve Leary, where he told ranks about the plot.
Given that the suspect was said to have political connections, Benschop said that he felt that “going to the police would be a waste of time” and that the information would have been relayed to the suspect.
He said that he shared the information given to him with people outside of Guyana.
Benschop said he had noted with interest that the police “did absolutely nothing with the information given to them by ‘Grey Boy’ (Rodrigues).”
After Crum-Ewing’s death, Benschop said Rodrigues went again to the police and repeated his earlier story. “And the police did nothing from March to now,” Benschop told Stabroek News, while adding that in light of Rodrigues’ arrest over the Crum-Ewing killing and the developments in the investigations, he is trying to “put two and two together as something is not adding up at all.”
He told Stabroek News that on Thursday afternoon around 4PM the police contacted him and inquired whether he knew Rodrigues. When he confirmed that he did, he said the police rank told him that earlier there was a confrontation between Narine and Rodrigues, during which Rodrigues spoke of the proposed $3M ‘hit.’ Benschop said the rank said that they would like to interview him with regards to this matter.
After he expressed discomfort with having the interview done at Eve Leary, it was agreed that it would be done at 5PM at his East Street office. However, the rank never turned up nor was any call made to offer an explanation. Yesterday morning a sergeant from Eve Leary called and once any requested an appropriate time for a matter. Both parties agree that 10AM would be a good time but up to 5PM when this newspaper spoke with Benschop no police rank had shown up.
“I am of the view that the investigating officers are playing games and I don’t have time with these games,” he declared.
He said that he is uncomfortable with CID ranks “interviewing me on something they have lapsed on.”
Benschop posited that if the police are serious about solving the Crum-Ewing killing, the current batch of investigating ranks should be replaced with an independent group of persons who come from outside the Guyana Police Force. He said that unless this is done there will be no real justice for Crum-Ewing.
“My suspicion is that they are trying to find a scapegoat…Those investigating ranks are not to be trusted. In my opinion, they know who are the intellectual authors…” he said, adding, “the entire force need to be overhauled. We need independent people to come and take over the force until we get it right.”
He said that the current administration must know that “this is serious business and that the state has a responsibility to protect citizens.” In this regard, he said that he recently contacted Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan with regards to the administration paying close attention to his security but was told that he should speak to the ranks at CID headquarters. Benschop questioned how and why he would go there when he has no trust in the ranks given their lack of a response to the alleged attempt to have him killed.
Rodrigues was detained two Tuesdays ago after turning himself in one day after the police searched his home and found an unlicensed .32 pistol. Ballistic tests on the weapon was a positive match to the Crum-Ewing case. Rodrigues was charged with gun possession and was subsequently interviewed in connection with the Crum-Ewing probe. Rodrigues has been before the courts over a number of years on a variety of charges. Earlier this week police arrested Narine, who is a former Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) rank and current member of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA). Nandlall, while admitting that Narine was his bodyguard on Thursday, said that he had fired the man after four days because he was informed that he was providing unknown persons with information on their whereabouts.
