Investigators yesterday re-arrested three police officers as they continue to probe the chase which occurred in the city more than two weeks ago and which led to one civilian succumbing to his injuries and another paralysed for life.
Contacted for an update last evening, Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum told Stabroek News that the ranks, who were among a number of others who were initially placed under close arrest have been re-arrested.
Blanhum said investigators yesterday revisited the scene in the company of the police officers who were present there on the night in question.
The investigation is being conducted by a team of ranks from the Guyana Police Force’s Major Crimes Unit.
The incident occurred on July 25th . Sampat succumbed to his injuries last Wednesday while Fraser remains hospitalised.
Fraser is currently paralysed and doctors have since advised that there is a 50% probability that he will die if surgery is attempted to remove the fragments of a warhead lodged near his spine.
This newspaper has seen a police incident report in which law enforcers claimed that around 1.30am on Saturday, July 25, three police officers on patrol observed a large gathering at the junction of Agricola Road and the East Bank Highway. The officers approached the crowd and requested that they disperse. It was during the dispersal that police witnessed a fight between two men, one of whom whipped out a gun and pointed it in the direction of the other while trying to make his escape in a car bearing registration number PYY 4432.
As a result, the police say one of the ranks sent out a transmission over the force network while they chased after the vehicle. The pursuit took them through South Ruimveldt, Cemetery Road, Hadfield Street and Vlissengen Road. The report further stated that other patrols were dispatched and proceeded to locate the car, which was eventually found at D’Urban Street and Mandela Avenue. It was said by the officers in the first patrol vehicle that when they arrived at the scene, the four occupants of the car they were pursuing, were lying on the ground. According to the report, several other GPF patrol vehicles were also at the scene.
The report did not state when or how the men were shot but that two men who were injured were escorted to the hospital by the police. The two injured men nursing gunshot wounds to their backs, were identified as Sampat and Fraser. It was noted that no gun was found in the car but there was one live round of ammunition.
The other two occupants of the car were 22-year-old Joshua Letlow, of East Ruimveldt, and 23-year-old Seon Greenidge, a block maker.
On Sunday, a team of officers including Commissioner of Police (ag) Nigel Hoppie, Blanhum and Commander of Region 4(A) Assistant Commissioner Simon McBean visited Sampat’s relatives.
The team assured the family that a “comprehensive” investigation will be conducted by a dedicated team.
