The trial of convicted scam artist Gopaul Tiwari, who is accused of shooting at police, began yesterday with him claiming that, contrary to police testimony, he was approached by ranks in a heavily tinted vehicle bearing no police plates.
The accused, who is self-represented, is facing charges of unlawfully and maliciously discharging a loaded firearm at two police ranks on May 9, 2016, at Diamond, East Bank Demerara.
Tiwari was equipped with a colour-coded map of the area where the event in question occurred, and models of two cars, which appeared to be fashioned from cardboard.
Three officers, Corporals Devon Lowe, Huranan Deonarine and Alex Anais, attached to the Major Crime Investigations Unit of the CID Headquarters, testified at the commencement of Tiwari’s trial yesterday.
It was the testimony of Deonarine and Anais that on the morning of May 9, they received information that Tiwari, wanted for several fraud matters, was in the vicinity of Grove/Diamond, on the East Bank.
They both testified to leaving in the force vehicle and seeing Tiwari in the vicinity of Diamond Public Road, close to Grove (according to Anais, Deonarine could not remember exactly where). The two stated that when the accused spotted the vehicle, he began speeding up and “creasing” them through the rear screen.
Tiwari, in between questioning the witnesses, made it known to the court that the police were not driving a pickup like they claimed, but a heavily tinted Lexus.
He recalled that upon spotting the vehicle, he “drove to save his life,” and he went on to recount incidents that had happened in the weeks prior that he said sparked his reaction.
The defendant recounted that three weeks prior to the incident, a senior officer had visited his son’s establishment and told him, “if yuh see yuh fada, let him know that they’re planning to kill him and put a gun in his hand.” He said about a month before that, he was making his way from Plaisance with money to do a deposit when someone opened fire on him in the vicinity of the police station.
According to Deonarine’s testimony, he eventually managed to intercept Tiwari’s vehicle and himself and Anais exited and shouted “police!” It was at this point that Tiwari allegedly pulled out a “darkish object” (how it was described by both Deonarine and Anais) suspected to be a firearm, pointed it out the window and they heard a loud explosion. Anais, under cross-examination by Tiwari said he did not see a bullet exit the barrel but heard the explosion come from the defendant’s direction.
The two took cover at the side of their vehicle and Deonarine returned fire. Anais said he did not shoot, although he stated that he had his firearm in hand while at the scene.
Deonarine further related that Tiwari began reversing down the one way and so he ran over the road where he identified himself as a police officer to a taxi driver, Imran Khan, and they began to give chase to the defendant’s car.
Anais said he also followed behind Tiwari, but in the force vehicle in which they had traveled to the scene.
Anais said they found Tiwari’s vehicle parked in Post Office Street. Deonarine reportedly said the same twice in his statement, but testified differently yesterday. He said it was actually parked “on the other street” when his claim was challenged by the defendant.
They related that when they found the car, Tiwari was not inside and they noticed that the windscreen was shattered. Tiwari, during cross-examination, asked Anais whether it was possible that the windscreen was damaged from the bullet fired by Deonarine, but the witness said he would not be able to say.
Tiwari also alleged that when the car was taken to the Grove Police Station, it was cleaned thoroughly to ensure there was no evidence that he was shot at.
Both men’s testimonies were that they entered the yard and Tiwari surrendered, having appeared from behind a pile of sand. He was then allegedly cautioned by Anais, who told him of the offence of discharging a loaded firearm.
There was a question of how many ranks were in fact at the scene when Tiwari was arrested, which arose from conflicting evidence presented by the prosecution’s witnesses.
In Anais’ evidence, he said he had left the CID Headquarters to go to the East Bank with a team of ranks, which he later told the court included Deonarine and two officers belonging to the intelligence unit, whose names he said he could not disclose.
Deonarine had testified that only he and Anais were involved in Tiwari’s apprehension and Anais had been the one to caution the defendant.
During his period of cross-examining, Tiwari countered that when he was apprehended by the police, there were at least 20 police officers on the scene, six of whom he knows by name. He maintained that he was cautioned by an officer by the name of Ramotar, and not by Anais, as the witnesses had claimed. He further stated that Ramotar had been the officer who drove his car from the Grove Police Station to the Eve Leary Headquarters, where it was lodged.
Anais denied this, stating that the car was driven by a rank from the intelligence unit. When the magistrate asked him to name the rank, however, after much hesitation, he mumbled the name “Ramotar.”
The trial is set to continue today at 10 am with the evidence of Khan, who assisted the police on the morning in question.
