The probe into the fatal shooting of Devon Hansraj, the teenager who was a part of the violent post-elections protests in Cotton Tree Village, West Coast Berbice in early March was “poorly” conducted and as such the police were asked to conduct further investigations, the Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) yesterday said.
The DPP’s statement was prompted by an article headlined `Cops awaiting legal advice on fatal shooting of elections protester’ which was published in yesterday’s edition of Stabroek News.
According to the statement, the case file in the matter was sent by the police to the DPP’s Chambers for legal advice on April 27th, 2020.
“A perusal of the statements contained therein, revealed that the police investigations were poorly conducted and as a result the DPP’s Chambers advised the Guyana Police Force that further investigations … be conducted into the matter,” the statement said.
It further noted that according to the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) Act investigations of such nature were supposed to be supervised by the Chairman of PCA. However, in this case, the DPP said such was not done.
“The investigations so far have not only been poorly conducted, but in breach of the law,” the DPP’s Chambers stated.
Police Commander of Region Five, Yonette Stephens had previously told Stabroek News that an investigation was done and the file was sent for legal advice.
Contacted yesterday for a response to the DPP statement, Stephens said, “the DPP would have said what she had to say. I wouldn’t know what is going on now. We would have done our part”.
She noted that the investigation is being conducted under the supervision of the PCA.
On March 6, after a day of violent protests in Region Five, Hansraj, 18, was fatally shot and at least five ranks sustained serious injuries during a confrontation.
Sergeant Ibaran, who was seriously injured is still unable to return to work, while the others have since fully recovered.
The Guyana Police Force, in a statement, had reported that Hansraj was fatally shot while attacking ranks with a cutlass alongside other protesters.
However, residents and relatives had challenged the police’s account since they claimed that the youth was unarmed and walking out of the street when the police allegedly opened fire.
Hemchand Hansraj, 40, of Lot 37 Section A, Cotton Tree Village, West Coast Berbice, said he is still seeking justice for his son’s death. “Abie got to get justice, abie can’t left am so,” he said.
According to the father, the police took statements from relatives on the night that his son was killed and never contacted them again.
On March 6, protests erupted in several regions and some saw confrontations between protesters and the police.
