Police are investigating a claim that police ranks may have taken bribes to ignore evidence in the investigation of a fatal accident at Mahaicony last month.
Police had said Ryan Singh, 25, was driving a car along the roadway at Now or Never and lost control and crashed into a concrete fence, leading to his death on July 12th. At the time, four other persons, Raul Chichester, 26, Kwesi Shepherd, 22, Raul Shepherd, 23, and Trevor Chichester, 31, all of Now or Never, Mahaicony, were in the vehicle.
According to the dead man’s wife, Vanessa Singh, after she spoke with another section of the media about the accident, the police visited her home early yesterday morning and asked her what she was dissatisfied with about the investigation of the accident.
Singh and her mother were invited to visit the Mahaicony Police Station yesterday.
According to Vanessa, while everyone including the other occupants are claiming that her husband was driving the vehicle when the accident occurred, he did not know how to drive. She also said when she last saw the men the vehicle was driven by Raul Chichester. “I have never seen my husband attempt to drive or ever drove any vehicle,” said the woman.
Both Singh and her mother gave a statements to the police yesterday. In addition, by late yesterday afternoon, according to the woman, the police managed to contact the other men who were in the car on the day of the accident and they were being prepared to give statements.
The Guyana Times yesterday carried a report that stated that Singh believed that police had accepted bribes from relatives of one of the other men involved in the accident to bury the case.
Subsequently, the Guyana Police Force announced that Commissioner of Police Seelall Persaud had directed the Police Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) to conduct investigations into the allegations.
Singh yesterday denied making the accusation. She said she was questioned about whether she believed the police took bribes to settle the matter but she declined to answer any such question and stated that she didn’t know anything. Despite her clear denial, what was reported in the Guyana Times report indicated otherwise, she added.
