Latest update April 19th, 2024 12:59 AM
Apr 04, 2010 News
Police in Berbice continue to up the ante against criminals with the fatal shooting of one man and the apprehension of two others in separate incidents on Thursday evening last.
However, there is controversy surrounding the fatal shooting with residents and relatives of the dead man claiming that he was executed.
Police in a press statement said that around 21:30 hours on Thursday, Romel Awad, 32, of No. 79 Village, Corriverton, Berbice, was fatally shot during an exchange of gunfire with ranks of a mobile police patrol at Kingstown, Corriverton.
The release stated that investigations have revealed that acting on information received, the police encountered two men at the No. 76 Housing Scheme, Kingston, Corriverton, in the vicinity of the canefields.
The police claimed that the men opened fire on them as they approached.
The police returned fire hitting one of them, who was later found to be Romel Awad, while the other man managed to escape.
An unlicensed .38 Smith and Wesson revolver with a matching round and two spent shells were found in his possession.
According to the police three arrest warrants had been issued for Romel Awad who was before the courts on charges of nine counts of robbery under arms and possession of firearm without licence and possession of ammunition without licence.
The police said that the charges stemmed from armed robberies committed on two groups of persons on August 30, 2008, and May 09, 2009, at Corriverton, Berbice. There was also an incident on March 12, 2005, at Skeldon during which Mohamed Yusuf was shot and injured.
However, relatives of the dead man have disputed the police version of events that led to Awad’s death.
Bonita Persaud, the dead man’s sister told this newspaper that from all accounts her brother was alive when the police took him from the scene of the incident.
Persaud claimed that her brother left his home on Thursday night after receiving a call from a friend whom she said is a policeman.
As the two men were walking near the school in a place called little India, they were confronted by ranks of a police mobile patrol.
According to Persaud, her brother immediately put up his hands to surrender but was reportedly beaten by the ranks, sustaining broken teeth in the process.
He was then placed into the police vehicle for two hours while the ranks searched for the other man who was with him.
Persaud said that she later learnt from a man who was picked up by the police and taken to the station, that the ranks indicated that they were taking “the badly injured” Awad to the hospital.
However according to family members they were subsequently informed that Awad was dead. They claimed that the police prevented them from viewing Awad’s body, reportedly because of the visible marks of violence apart from the bullet wound.
But police officials in the ancient county are maintaining that the man was shot during a confrontation.
They are challenging anyone who witnessed otherwise to come forward.
Meanwhile, at about 16:20 hours also on Thursday, Yokoliza Seenarine, 29, was in her business place at Bath Settlement, West Coast Berbice, when two men, one of whom was armed with a firearm, entered and held her at gunpoint.
Her husband, Krishna Sewlall, later entered the shop and was also held up.
The two men then took away $19,233 along with some personal documents belonging to Seenarine. They escaped after tying up their victims with pieces of cloth.
The couple managed to free themselves and the matter was reported to the police who subsequently saw two suspicious men running across an open field in the vicinity of a roadblock that had been established at the Fort Wellington Public Road.
The police gave chase and apprehended both men.
An unlicensed .38 Taurus revolver with four matching rounds along with the money and documents stolen during the robbery were found in a haversack in their possession.
The two suspects will be charged shortly.
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