For the second time in 18 months Police Prosecutor Corporal Hemchand Sukhna has come under attack by a person or persons carrying firearms.
In the latest incident, which occurred on Saturday night, Sukhna came under fire while driving along the Rupert Craig Highway. He was not hit by a bullet, but his minibus was and he sustained minor lacerations to his left ankle from shattered glass.
Investigations are ongoing.
Information released by the police stated that the 42-year-old Sukhna who is currently a prosecutor at the Sparendaam Magis-trate’s Court and lives at Craig, East Bank Demerara was on his way to work in his RZ minibus (PHH 6880) when he came under attack.
The police said that as Sukna turned onto the Rupert Craig Highway from the traffic light at Sheriff Street, he observed a dark-coloured Premio car drive up alongside him. When the vehicle got close to his minibus, he observed the driver and another man sitting in the car’s front passenger seat.
Sukhna told police that the driver started shouting and pointing at him but he could not decipher what was being uttered. The corporal said he continued driving, and at the traffic light at Rupert Craig and Conversation Tree, he heard a loud explosion. A bullet had struck the driver-side door of his minibus and shattered the window. The car then drove off at a fast speed, heading east on Rupert Craig Highway.
CID ranks processed the scene and a bullet was recovered from the door of the minibus, while a .9MM spent shell was found on the northern carriageway on the Rupert Craig Highway in the vicinity of Conversation Tree, police said.
In November 2021, gunmen had opened fire at the prosecutor’s home damaging the rear windshield of his minibus and leaving bullet holes in his house.
“Me, my wife and my nephew were sitting at the front of the house under the shed and then I heard some loud explosions. I didn’t respond to it right away but then I heard some more. When I heard the second amount now, I just told them [his wife and nephew] to drop on the ground, to make themselves the smaller target,” Sukhna recalled in a telephone interview in 2021.
Police had found several spent shells at that scene and investigators believed that incident might have been linked to a court case Sukhna prosecuted.
Asked whether he had any idea why he might be targeted, Sukhna drew the same conclusion. He recalled being threatened by the accused during a particular trial, but said he did not take it seriously at the time. He said that person was recently released from prison after serving a three-year sentence.
He also recalled being attacked about eight years ago, while returning home from work. “At the time I was stationed at Brickdam Police Station… I used to take public transportation to work… I was beaten and robbed,” he said.
Sukhna who has been a member of the Guyana Police Force for about 20 years said while he was fearful for his life and the lives of his family members, he has to continue performing his duties.
He said he is now thinking that he may have to worry in instances where he secures a conviction and the accused ends up in jail. “I don’t know if he is going to return, [or] he is going to send anybody but I basically have to look over my shoulder now,” he added.
While Sukhna has not been provided with any form of protection at his home, he said he hoped that sometime in the future it would be considered for him and his fellow prosecutors.
