Convicted drug trafficker Shaheed Roger Khan, who was detained by the police on Friday night for questioning in relation to the murders of political activist Ronald Waddell and boxing coach Donald Allison was yesterday afternoon released from police custody.
His attorney, Glenn Hanoman informed Stabroek News that he was released on $200,000 station bail around 12.20 pm yesterday after his 72-hours detention period expired.
Hanoman said while Khan was released without being charged, he has to report to the police every week, beginning next week.
Observers say the release of Khan on bail will underline the reality that despite the extensive commentary on him going back to their days in the opposition, the present government had made no real effort to ensure the gathering of evidence for the many crimes he had been accused of committing or ordering here. President David Granger himself had frequently pointed to Khan’s reign here prior to his capture and the misdeeds he had been accused of. Since it entered office in May, 2015, the government appears to have made no effort to find witnesses, fortify witness protection arrangements and acquire certified copies of testimony from US courts.
Khan’s release, observers say, will raise qualms in the public considering the many connections he was said to have had in the underworld and whether security for him and others will become an issue. Khan, who had properties here before his capture in Suriname may also come under the scrutiny of anti-money laundering legislation.
Khan arrived shortly after 11.30 pm on Friday at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri on an American Airlines flight from Miami.
Upon his arrival, the 47-year-old was whisked away under heavy police guard to the CID at Eve Leary, where he was processed.
After spending close to an hour there, during which time he was briefly allowed to see his attorney, he was transported to an undisclosed holding facility.
Hanoman later related that Khan told him that the police had explained to him that he would not be released and instead would be held for questioning about the murders of Waddell and Allison.
On Saturday, Hanoman had told this newspaper that investigators have concluded the interview process with Khan and he has maintained his innocence.
Hanoman had said a number of questions, including those relating to what occurred some 15 years ago were raised.
“Of course he maintained his innocence… he said what he had to say about all the allegations and all the questions they asked but he told them that he wouldn’t want to say anything anymore after this interview. He answered as best as he could, all of the questions he was [asked]…he didn’t remain silent, he tried his best to answer the questions… Questions were relating to 15 years ago and things like that, where he was and all of that, that aren’t possible to answer,” he had related.
“He indicated at the end of the interview that he won’t be willing to give any further statements afterwards. So the police have to see what they will make of that,” Hanoman added.
Waddell, 57, was killed in January, 2006.
At the time, it was reported that a dark-coloured car took the gunmen to the scene, where they were apparently watching Waddell’s movements from the seawall. As soon as Waddell got into his car, two gunmen ran across the road and opened fire on the vehicle. They then ran back across the road, jumped into their car and sped away east along the highway.
Allison, meanwhile, was killed in September, 2005 in a drive-by shooting carried out by men armed with machine guns. Allison, 43, came under a barrage of gunfire outside the Ricola Boxing Gym on the Agricola Public Road. He was sitting in front of the two-storey building with a female student when the men pulled up in a dark coloured vehicle and opened fire. Allison, who sustained wounds to his head and upper body, was clearly the target of the attack.
Police had arrested freed murder accused Shawn Hinds and two relatives of dead ‘hitman’ Axel Williams, but the men were all released. It was believed that a city-based death squad with links to the underworld carried out the killing.
However, Selwyn Vaughn, an informant for the US government, during the witness tampering trial of Khan’s former lawyer Robert Simels, had claimed that Khan ordered the execution of both Waddell and Allison.
Vaughn, a professed former member of Khan’s alleged “Phantom gang” who was granted immunity from prosecution, had testified in the United States that he had served as the lookout for the hits on Waddell and Allison.
Khan, who is alleged to have been given free rein under the then PPP/C government to go after persons he determined to be criminals during the crime wave following the 2002 jail-break, was released from a US prison in early July. He had served almost ten years of a 15-year sentence for drug trafficking. He was sentenced after he pleaded guilty to trafficking cocaine, witness tampering and gun-running.
He had been arrested in Suriname and was seized by US authorities in Trinidad while en route to Guyana.
