Latest update December 6th, 2024 4:51 AM
Aug 05, 2008 News
The words of Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee, who said that time and space are running out for wanted man Rondell Rawlins, may be coming back to haunt him.
A senior police official yesterday admitted that the fugitive and the remaining members of his gang have eluded a dragnet in the Upper Demerara/Upper Berbice area.
The Minister of Home Affairs had said a little over a month ago that: “Fine Man’ is no Bin Laden. He is running out of time and space.”
But, according to the source, the heightened Joint Services’ operations in the Kwakwani/Linden area have been scaled down.
The security forces had swooped down on Rawlins and members of his gang at their Christmas Falls hideout, in the Upper Berbice River, in April.
During the initial operation, which was conducted by a police unit, one gang member — Otis Fiffee, called ‘Mud Up’, was shot dead, while a large quantity of ammunition was found in what was described as a major blow to the gang’s operation.
A few days later, the security forces shot and killed two other members of the gang near Goat Farm, Upper Demerara.
The security forces also captured a teenaged gang member and recovered two AK-47 assault rifles.
During that time there were reports that Rawlins and a few other members had hijacked a minibus on the Ituni trail.
This report was followed by the recovery of another AK-47 assault rifle that was buried near the Unamco road.
There were also reports that some heavily armed men in camouflage uniforms were spotted in the Mabura trail.
Since then, there have been no reported sightings of ‘Fine Man’ or the remaining gang members.
The hunt for ‘Fine Man’ may have been stymied by the controversy surrounding the killing of eight miners at Lindo Creek, a few miles from the hideout at Christmas Falls.
While the security forces have denied any involvement in the killings, going as far as to say that it was the work of the notorious gang, the owner of the camp, Leonard Arokium, is insisting that his men were killed by the Joint Services.
Crime Chief Seelall Persaud told this newspaper yesterday that, although the hunt for Rawlins has not gone cold, the impression is that he is not in the Upper Demerara area. He declined to comment further.
Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee had told this newspaper in the wake of the killing of two gang members — Cecil Ramcharran, called ‘Uncle Willie’, and Robin Chung, called ‘Chung Boy’ — that it was just a matter of time before Rawlins and the remaining members of his gang were captured or killed.
“I am convinced that, one by one, the members of this gang will be flushed out like rats. It’s only a matter of time. He is running out of space and time to manoeuvre and hide,” Rohee had told this newspaper.
“Fine Man is no Osama Bin Laden. He will be found. In fact, his location has already been identified,” the minister added.
Security forces who were pursuing gunmen at Christmas Falls believe that Rawlins is one of the persons who fled a safe house some 90 miles from the mining community of Kwakwani, in the Berbice River, when a party of policemen surprised them.
Rawlins has managed to elude the security forces on several occasions, prompting the Administration to offer a whopping $50M reward for his capture dead or alive.
The security forces say that Rawlins masterminded several daring robberies and murders, including robberies and the two massacres at Bartica and Lusignan, in which a total of 23 persons were killed.
The security forces had said that they recovered a diary which indicated that the wanted man was planning another massacre to avenge the death of his sister, Marcyn King, who was gunned down three months ago while she was on her way home.
In the wake of the death of his sister, Rawlins’s mother had issued an appeal for an end to all the violence.
According to Minister Rohee, with the mode that the security forces are in at the present time, it is quite obvious that they are going all out to capture Rawlins.
“What is obvious is that the criminal enterprise is being dismantled piece by piece. This is going to be painstaking, but it will be done,” Rohee stated.
He, however, pointed out that, to achieve success, members of the public must give their support to the Joint Services.
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