Latest update April 18th, 2024 12:59 AM
Jul 06, 2008 News
The controversy surrounding the brutal slaying of eight miners at Lindo Creek, Upper Berbice River has taken yet another twist. This time the Police say that they have hard evidence of the involvement of wanted man Rondell ‘Fine Man’ Rawlins and his gang.
Acting Police Commissioner Henry Greene yesterday disclosed that an eyewitness has given investigators a detailed account of what transpired at the camp where the miners’ cremated remains were discovered two weeks ago.
He said that the information was obtained as recently as two nights ago, but he declined to identify the eyewitness for what he described as obvious reasons.
Greene told reporters that the identity of the witness cannot be disclosed at this time.
“The eyewitness has said that the men were attacked by ‘Fine Man’ and his gang. They went there the night. Basically, they attacked the men. They tied them up, they cooked, et cetera, and then the next night they were shot and killed,” Greene told members of the media at the end of yesterday’s Police Anniversary Route March.
He added that the eyewitness related that, after the shooting, one of the victims was still alive, and he was beaten with a hammer until he succumbed.
“That is what we have: We have how they arrived there, we have all the details. That is all I can give you for now,” Greene explained.
The incident reportedly occurred even as the Joint Services were pursuing Rawlins and his gang after raiding their Christmas Falls hideout a few days earlier.
According to the top cop, the killer gang arrived at Lindo Creek, which is on the opposite side of the Berbice River from the Christmas Falls base.
He said that charges will soon be laid, but he did not elaborate on who will be charged.
A Police report had earlier stated that evidence gathered had indicated that Rawlins and his gang were responsible for the miners’ deaths.
The confidential report which this newspaper had managed to obtain stated that Rawlins had boasted about the massacre while in the process of hijacking a minibus on the Ituni road.
Ballistics tests on the spent shells reportedly recovered from the scene revealed that one of them matches one of the weapons that were recovered by the security forces from slain gunmen Cecil Ramcharran, called ‘Uncle Willie,’ and Robin Chung, called ‘Chung Boy’.
The others matched those recovered from crime scenes at Bartica and Triumph, East Coast Demerara.
However, owner of the mining camp where the miners were killed, Leonard Arokium, maintained yesterday that the killing of his employees is not the work of the notorious fugitive.
Arokium had expressed strong belief that his employees were killed by members of the security forces operating in the area.
He had explained that it would have been foolish for ‘Fine Man’ and his gang, who were fleeing from the security forces, to risk going to his camp and take the time to burn the bodies of his employees, including that of his son, Dax, after killing them.
But, according to the statement, Rawlins and gang members were in the Christmas Falls area, located some 300 miles up the Berbice River.
The report said that Christmas Falls is located near a concession owned by Pioneer Investments Incorporated, which is controlled by the Bynoe family.
The Police went on to state that, following heightened security presence in the previous safe haven of Buxton, in the wake of the Lusignan and Bartica massacres, the gang moved to the Linden area and thence to Christmas Falls, after a series of Joint Services operations in the mining town.
The Police believe that the move to Christmas Falls was facilitated by Phillip Bynoe, who is known to have knowledge of the area.
Following the raid on Rawlins’s hideout, the Police say, the security forces had called on all miners in the area to vacate. However, preliminary reports state that there were no economic activities in the area, something that the nation now knows to be untrue.
One such operation was the one at Lindo Creek, 16 kilometres from Christmas Falls, and according to the Police, Arokium’s men did not see it fit to vacate the area.
“Arokium has seen the consequence of his actions and has felt the wrath of ‘Fine Man,’ who it is felt was betrayed by Bynoe, a close associate who had guaranteed a safe hideout,” the Police report said.
Acting Police Commissioner Henry Greene told members of the media that the Police are still looking for Bynoe, who is wanted for treason. The report said that ‘Fine Man’ is unique in responding to persons who betray him.
The Police say that he is known to decapitate persons and burn their bodies, as were witnessed in the village of Buxton and Agricola a few years ago.
“The fashion of death of the eight miners and the disposal of their remains represent the work and characteristic of ‘Fine Man’ and which are evident in this particular case,” the report stated.
According to investigators, information revealed that, subsequent to discovery of the miners’ remains, Rawlins and his gang hijacked a minibus that was proceeding to Linden with passengers.
It was reported that Rawlins seemingly boasted about killing the miners and burning their bodies at a location that the Joint Services were unable to locate.
But the prolonged silence of the security forces allowed for speculation to influence the public in a way that would make them appear culpable.
However, the report says that the Joint Services stand correct in withholding information, and is only prepared to release such once there is extensive investigation into the Lindo Creek incident.
“Even with the confirmation that the spent shells found at Arokium’s campsite match the weapons recovered at the Goat Farm location, the Joint Services, in its most professional posture and in the face of unpleasant criticisms, is determined to make sound pronouncement based on detailed investigative work,” the report said.
President Bharat Jagdeo had announced that Guyana has sought forensic assistance from the United States of America. But in recent developments, the United States of America informed the Ministry of Home Affairs of Guyana that, due to logistical and resource limitations, it is not able to fulfill the Government of Guyana’s request at this time to dispatch a forensic/pathology team to Guyana to assist with the investigations into the death of the eight miners at Lindo Creek.
But even before the reply from the Americans, there was some concern that the site had been contaminated.
The local authorities had removed shells from the site after troops had traversed the area. Further contamination occurred when the authorities removed the remains of the slain miners.
The weather did not help.
Acting Commissioner Greene said yesterday that, within recent times, the Guyana Police Force has come under tremendous pressure, with recent calls for independent inquiries in recent events.
This, he said, gives the impression that the Force can no longer investigate, or can no longer be trusted.
“But I have always maintained that we are people of integrity and we investigate impartially, and we maintain our position. We don’t mind who is called to come and do what they call independent inquiry. We’re maintaining that they will find nothing different from what our investigators have unearthed,” the Acting Commissioner said.
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