…technology leading to more cases being solved – Crime Chief
The Guyana Cold Cases Unit is currently probing five murder cases that have been pending for a number of years due to insufficient evidence collected when those crimes were committed.
Crime Chief Lyndon Alves
This is according to the Crime Chief, Deputy Police Commissioner Lyndon Alves, who has responsibility for law enforcement in the Guyana Police Force.
In an exclusive interview with Guyana Times, Alves explained that these cases are being pursued by both the Cold Cases Unit and the Major Crimes Investigations Unit (MCIU).
“There are quite a few cases that are unsolved, so we are working to take care of these. For the first quarter of this year, we already solved two cold cases, where each had been unsolved for almost 10 years; and with those two out of the way, we are looking at five now, and they are very, very old. These are the current cases of interest to the MCIU and the Cold Cases Unit,” he explained.
According to Alves, the five cases could not have been further investigated, due to either lack of evidence at the time that each occurred or because the appropriate technology had not been available. However, those hindrances of the past will not prevent the Units from probing them this time around, he said.
“Due to the hard work and dedication of staff at the Cold Case Unit and the MCIU, coupled with technology, the systems put in place by both Units are working to help solve these murders. That’s what helped us close those two cold cases for this year. The additional information, staffing and equipment etc. I would not say we have reached where we wanted in terms of bolstering human resources and equipment, but we are definitely getting there,” the Deputy Police Commissioner further explained.
He said that while there are five cases being heavily focused on by the above-mentioned Units, this does not mean that other cold cases and unsolved murders are any less important. Those, too, will be probed again, sooner rather than later, Alves added.
The most recent cold case to be solved in Guyana is that of the murder of businessman Ramzan Alli, which occurred at Coldingen Railway Embankment Road, East Coast Demerara (ECD) between July 11 and 12, 2009.
His then wife, Milaimi Alli, has been nabbed at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) recently for the 2009 murder of the businessman. She appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts on Wednesday to answer a murder charge.
Milaimi Alli was not required to plead to the indictable charge, which stated that while being in the company of another, she murdered her husband Ramzan Alli at Coldingen Railway Embankment Road, East Coast Demerara (ECD) between July 11 and 12, 2009.
The 49-year-old woman of Kissoon Housing Scheme, Good Hope, ECD was represented by Attorney-at-Law Bernard DaSilva, who told the court that his client is a mother of five, and given that the murder happened 10 years ago, he would like to have an early date for the preliminary inquiry to commence.
The Police Prosecutor has told the court that the Police file is incomplete.
The woman was remanded to prison and the matter has been transferred to the Vigilance Magistrate’s Court for April 15.
The woman arrived in Guyana mere days after a wanted bulletin was issued for her arrest. Upon her arrival on a Caribbean Airlines flight from the United States of America, she was arrested and taken to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) headquarters, where she was grilled, after which the murder charge was instituted.
Investigators received new information that Alli paid her lover $7 million to kill her husband, which led them to reopen their investigation into the murder of the fuel dealer in March 2009.
Thirty-eight-year-old Zaheed Mitchell of Foulis, ECD was recently charged for his involvement in the murder of Alli.
