The police in Berbice are now seeking legal advice on the findings of their investigation of the alleged placement of portraits of President David Granger and Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo on the floor of the Number 52 – 74 Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) building last week.
According to a police source, investigators received a statement from a staffer of the NDC, who has said that the portraits were removed from the wall by the NDC Chairman, Anil Ramgahan, and placed on a filing cabinet.
The source alleged that a government representative in the region arrived at the NDC building and orchestrated a plan to place the portraits on the floor and take pictures after it was removed from the wall by Ramgahan.
Ramgahan, 30, of Number 70 Village, Corentyne, had previously told Stabroek News, that initially he requested the overseer, Ravindra Dass, to remove the pictures since “the government is unconstitutional.”
However, he said Dass refused to do so and told him that he did not want to get into politics since he is an administrative staffer and not a politician. Ramgahan had said, “I understood his point of view and why he didn’t want to get involved, so I removed the pictures myself and placed it on a filing cabinet.” He had claimed that he then asked Dass “to put the pictures up for safe keeping.”
The chairman had noted, that he was informed that after he left the NDC office, the lone government councillor, Lakeram Singh, and an AFC Regional Councillor, Gobin Harbhajan, who is also the representative of the Prime Minister’s Office in Region Six, were contacted and the pictures were placed on the floor for photos to be taken of them there.
He had stressed to this publication that staff at the NDC witnessed him placing the framed pictures on the filing cabinet.
He further noted that he felt as though he was well within his rights as Chairman of the NDC to remove the pictures from the wall.
He had also pointed out that no damage was done to the framed pictures while they were being removed.
Overseer Dass, when contacted yesterday, said that he could not speak to the media unless he received authorisation from the council to do so. However, he confirmed, that he was contacted by the police to provide a statement as part of their investigation.
Singh, had told this newspaper that he was contacted by the overseer about the issue on the day in question.
When asked last week where the pictures were when he arrived at the NDC he paused and then said “on the floor.”
According to Singh, he was told that the Chairman ordered the overseer to remove the pictures and after the overseer “did not agree to remove the pictures he ask for a scissors and remove them himself.”
Singh is contending that the pictures were placed on the floor by the Chairman.
Singh had filed a report at the Number 51 Police Station, which led to the police investigation. How-ever, the police source added yesterday that he does not believe any charges will be recommended since it was determined that the portraits were not damaged.
