Police accused of beating Enterprise man, residents

Residents of the East Coast Demerara village of Enterprise are accusing ranks of the Vigilance Police Station of brutality following an incident that occurred last evening, which saw officers excessively beating an allegedly unarmed man while facing off with residents.
Police have since refuted claims made by the residents by saying they were compelled to use “excessive” force after being attacked first.
Guyana Times was told that at least five residents of Enterprise had to seek medical attention after being released from custody late Monday night, following an encounter with Police ranks.

According to reports, at just before 20:00h, Police ranks went to arrest a resident of Jagan Street, Enterprise over an allegation of theft of a bicycle. That individual, known as ‘Indar’, being in a drunken state, resisted arrest, and that precipitated the incident.
A neighbour related that he became aware of what was transpiring after hearing the man’s screams of, “Police beating me and kicking me!” He said he went over to enquire what was going on, since Indar lives alone, his wife currently being overseas.

“The Police told me a guy, who was with them at the time, claims my neighbour stole his bicycle; but my neighbour was drunk at that time, and he was holding onto his gate, saying he’s not going to the station,” the witness related, adding that there was a boot print on the back of Indar’s shirt, suggesting that he had been kicked.
This neighbour added that Indar’s son eventually arrived, and they pleaded with the Police to let them handle Indar, given his drunken state.
The ranks insisted on taking Indar to the station, and allegedly dragging him to the vehicle as they continued their assault on him. While the Police were attempting to place Indar in the back seat of their pick-up vehicle, he fell onto the roadway.
By this time, some of Indar’s relatives who live nearby turned up, and they condemned the Police for their handling of the drunken man, who managed to escape from the ranks’ grasp, but fell unconscious.
“We had to give him Limacol and water, and fan him for him to catch back himself. After he woke up, we tried placing him in a car, and told the Police that we would take him to the station, but he needs to go see a doctor first, because the man does trouble with (blood) pressure and he had a stroke before,” the neighbour related.
At the time, there were two Police officers, and instead of adhering to the pleas of the relatives, they called for back-up. Within a span of between 15 to 20 minutes, ranks from the IMPACT Base Unit arrived.
“They started to scramble Indar’s nephews and pull them into their vehicle. They even hit one of the nephews in his nose, and he was bleeding… They were brutally harassed by the Police!” the man stated.
He added that when the wife of one of the nephews turned up at the station, one of the male officers claimed she had assaulted him, and so they arrested her and placed her in the lock-ups as well.
However, about two hours later, everyone was released on bail, including Indar, who was arrested for theft. Upon their release, the residents went to seek medical attention.
Upset over the entire ordeal, the residents are determined to get justice over what transpired on Monday evening in their village.
When contacted, acting Divisional Commander Eon Cooper refuted the residents’ version of events, but noted that an investigation has been launched into the matter.
“The Police went to make an arrest on a report of simple larceny, but the suspect pulled out a cutlass and ran after the Police, so the ranks had to use excessive force to arrest him, and the matter escalated,” Cooper detailed.
He added that residents had video-recorded the Police arresting the residents, but had “conveniently” left out when the officers were under attack.