Two police ranks linked to a corruption racket in Berbice have been fingered in a plot to kill another police officer.
Stabroek News was told that a ‘hit’ is said to be out on an officer in ‘B’ Division who was once awarded the Guyana Police Force’s ‘best cop’ award. According to a reliable source, information has been circulating that two officers mentioned in previous Stabroek News articles which revealed a corruption network in ‘B’ Division were promised a total of $3 million to carry out the hit.
However, after the articles were published, the ranks were reportedly deterred from carrying out their plans.
The source said that the ranks in question, a detective constable along with another officer said to be a lance corporal, allegedly received $1.4 million about two weeks ago to carry out the hit and were promised that the remaining amount would be paid once the job is completed.
The source said that the money was paid from a known drug dealer to the detective constable in the East Bank Berbice area.
Stabroek News was told that senior officers in ‘B’ Division were furnished with the information about the alleged hit on the officer. However, they reportedly asked that the informant providing the information to the sources be brought to them.
Even more frightening to ranks within the division is the fact that the detective constable who was allegedly paid to carry out the hit, was fingered in the execution-style killing of a policeman back in September 2012.
In that case, Detective Constable 20682, Jirbahan Dianand, 23, of Lot 70, Number 64 Village, Corentyne, was found dead, shot to the head execution-style in his car along the road at Jackson Creek, Corentyne.
Dianand, who was stationed at the Moleson Creek police outpost, was attached to the Narcotics Section.
Then Commissioner of Police Leroy Brumell had told Stabroek News that from all indications, Dianand knew his killer, pointing out that the car was stopped on the lonely roadway.
Then Crime Chief, Seelall Persaud, had said that while the motive for the killing remained unclear, Dianand had made several drug seizures.
Sources are now claiming that the said detective constable was the person behind that murder. Questioned whether the detective constable had knowledge or was involved directly in the killing, the source said that based on information they have received, the detective constable was the man behind the gun.
The source said that the deceased and the detective constable in question were working together when something went wrong between them.
The source alleged that the duo was involved in off the books matters where they would receive money from known drug dealers. However, the source said that based on information, the detective constable had accused Dianand of backstabbing him since Dianand, in one instance, reportedly received an amount of money but did not inform the officer in question so that they could share it.
The source said that while the detective constable was held under close arrest after Dianand’s murder, he was later released on his own recognizance after no gunpowder residue was found on his hand.
However, the source said that they were told that the officer in question used two substances combined to remove the gunpowder residue from his hands. The source identified the substances to Stabroek News.
In November 2012, Salim Bacchus called ‘Black Salim’ of 139 Line Path ‘D’ Corriverton, Corentyne, was charged with Dianand’s murder.
However, in April 2015, Bacchus was freed in the High Court in Berbice after the prosecution’s star witness changed his story and alleged that police ranks had forced him to give a statement which identified Bacchus as the murderer.
The government has been mostly silent on the allegations of corruption in Berbice policing. The police’s internal affairs department is meant to be doing an investigation but critics say an independent probe is necessary as witnesses would be unlikely to want to provide information to the police hierarchy.
