Strathspey murder: CPG to be resuscitated – AG

Following the murder of a young businessman at Strathspey, East Coast Demerara, Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall visited the family where he said efforts will be made to resuscitate the Community Policing Group (CPG) in Strathspey, East Coast Demerara.

Ganesh Persaud, who operated an electronics store in the area called “Deals on Electronics”, was in the store at about 16:30h when the bandit invaded, held him at knifepoint and collected his valuables, Police said.
The young businessman was relieved of a gold chain he was wearing at the time along with an undisclosed sum of cash, according to Police.
In his confession, the suspect, who was arrested shortly after the robbery, said that he stabbed the young man to his neck during a scuffle over his gold chain. The chain has since been recovered by Police.
During the visit to the family, the DPI reported that the AG was informed that the CPG which served the community was dismantled by the previous Administration.
“Perhaps this may not have happened if persons knew that there was vibrant, active policing group in this area that had access to guns. I am not saying that it could have been prevented, but it could have been a deterrent,” the AG was quoted as saying.
The Minister said the resuscitation of the CPGs was a manifesto promise of the PPP/C Administration. He said CPGs had played an integral role in curbing crimes in communities countrywide, under the PPP/C tenures.
“We have to begin to resuscitate the Community Policing Group and to equip it so that it can continue to offer some type of protection to the citizenry of our country.”
“The policing group helps a lot. We do not have thief. Anywhere people call on us, we are there, all in Lusignan, we are there. When the Police call on us, we are there, we do not lapse with that at all,” Sasenarine Sukram, a former member of the CPG, said during the visit.
The move was also welcomed by the father and brother of the slain youth.
Following the robbery, the injured Persaud managed to exit the building and raise an alarm. He then collapsed and was picked up and placed into a vehicle and taken to a private medical facility but he succumbed to his injuries. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.