Detective Constable Richard Persaud, the Berbice rank who was transferred to the Tactical Services Unit (TSU) after being accused of planting a material suspected to be ganja at a Superbet in East Canje, Berbice last month, has resigned from the Guyana Police Force.
He is now claiming that the force did not give him the opportunity to prove his innocence.
Persaud yesterday told reporters that he submitted his resignation last Monday, after which a senior rank claimed in the media that he was on the run. “I feel they only victimising me,” Persaud complained yesterday.
Persaud explained that he was not present at the Superbet shop, which is located in Reliance Village, East Canje Berbice, to conduct a search but rather to collect a document in relation to a matter. He said another rank, who was in uniform, asked him for a drop in Canje as he was heading in that direction too. “I go the morning to collect some documents from the man (owner) and another police accompany me there,” he said. “We had to do a report and send the file for advice so you had to get registration and everything for the business and that was what I went and collect.”
He claimed that it was never him who found any item but rather the other rank who found the illegal substance. The other rank was present in uniform but did not wear a nametag. However, Stabroek News was able to identify him as “Johnson.” “It was he who found the stuff and related to them, the camera can show who find the stuff and it’s not me,” Persaud insisted.
The owners of the Superbet had confirmed to Stabroek News that they had reported that a worker had stolen money from their establishment and it was after they met a senior rank that he contacted the Reliance Police Station and instructed them to compile a file. The owners said they reported the matter in February. However, Persaud was transferred to the Reliance Police Station in April and was assigned the case only then.
Persaud strongly denied that he requested any amount of money from the owners to have the case disappear. “The other police who found the items supposed to lodge it and let the analyst say is what… I swear on my daughter life I didn’t put anything,” he said.
Meanwhile, Persaud said after the matter was reported to the division’s crime officer he was contacted to visit his office and he gave a statement. He said he was told that the Commander of ‘B’ Division, Paul Langevine, had given instructions for him to be placed under close arrest. “I spend the entire day ’til 7 something and then they put me on open arrest and told me to resume duty,” he noted. “I worked Saturday, Sunday, Monday and then Tuesday when I go work them say I got to go to TSU under close arrest for the same matter, I spend four days at TSU. However, when they put me on open arrest, I ask them if I can come home because one clothes I had on all this time and they said no and I just left the compound and resigned,” he added.
‘Victimised’
Meanwhile, the other rank who was present with Persaud during the incident was never placed under close arrest, transferred or investigated. He remains stationed at the New Amsterdam Police Station.
Persaud said he believes that he was deliberately frustrated to force his resignation. He also believes that a senior police officer is out to ruin his career and thinks he was set up.
Additionally, he noted that while at TSU he saw the senior officer, who is on leave pending an investigation, arriving in his private vehicle. “Them just put me in a lock up for four days and left me. Nobody didn’t question me or ask my side,” the detective constable said as he broke into tears.
He also strongly insisted that he has never spoken to any reporter in relation to corruption allegations against the senior officer.
After several ranks spoke out in Stabroek News, detailing corrupt practices by junior ranks in B Division who were being aided by the senior rank, Persaud and another rank were accused of being the whistleblowers.
Before being placed on leave, the senior officer had summoned Persaud and the other rank to his office, after which he transferred them since he believed that they were the sources behind this publication’s stories. Persaud was not one of the ranks who spoke with Stabroek News.
Persaud said he is certain that if the matter were to reach the court, then his innocence will be proven because there is no evidence that he found the illicit item, showed it to the owner or asked for money to have the matter disappear.
Furthermore, Persaud, said he was extremely disappointed in the Guyana Police Force and the way in which the matter was handled. Persaud, who has given eight years of service to the force, noted that he enjoyed his job as he has a special knack for investigating matters.
He said he has never faced any disciplinary proceedings before and it was only after the senior officer accused him of speaking out to the media that he started to be victimised.
He is calling on the Commissioner of Police, Leslie James, to look into the matter and launch an investigation, as he believes that during a proper investigation his innocence would be proven.
Additionally, he said he chose to speak out to the media yesterday after he was unable to contact his commander or senior officers to share his grievances.
