The Guyana Police Force will soon be asking Interpol for assistance in identifying the origin of the grenades that were found near the Lamaha Canal last Saturday afternoon, Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum said yesterday.
Contacted, Blanhum said ranks of Guyana Defence Force (GDF) are assisting detectives who have provided serial numbers printed on the explosives which are to be checked against the army’s record.
He said that shortly the police will be sending those serial numbers to Interpol as part of a request for help in tracing where they came from.
Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum had informed this newspaper that detectives and ranks from the force’s ballistics section unearthed 11 fragmentation grenades, four concussion grenades, 13 fuses, three 7.62 rounds for an AK-47, and seven 9 mm rounds in the small green box, that was found near the Lamaha Canal.
Stabroek News was told that a city constable spotted the suspicious, mud-covered box around 2.30 pm last Saturday.
It is suspected that the green box was dumped in the area recently. The Crime Chief said it was possible that the box was dumped in the canal and was scooped up by an excavator that was digging the canal and deposited at the side with mud and other debris. He said the explosives appeared to be in good condition.
Members of the police bomb squad, after spending a few hours at the scene conducting investigations, later removed the box.
Chief of Staff of the GDF, Brigadier Mark Phillips told Stabroek News on Sunday that checks have revealed nothing missing from the inventory but checks are being done to ascertain if the grenades are similar to those from the army or where they originated from.
Phillips said the colour of the box did not mean it was from the GDF as the colour green was a global military colour.
