A number of residents of Zeelugt, West Demerara have complained of Police harassment, as houses were ransacked while ranks searched for a “wanted man”.
Based on information received, a group of Police ranks went into the village last Saturday evening claiming that they were looking for a man who was never found.
A lock that was broken to enter the house
Speaking with Guyana Times, Poorandai Sukhu explained that the ordeal started last Saturday and continued ever since. She stated that ranks entered the community during the night and came into her yard.
The woman said that despite Police not finding the wanted man, the occupants of the home were taken to the Leonora Police Station. After being detained for 12 hours, they were released.
“At first, we thought was bandits with how they enter the yard. Then I saw four Policemen, two with guns, and the Police vehicle. They said that they saw my nephew in here on Friday and that they want him. Nobody was here,” she stated.
“I asked if they have a search warrant and they said they don’t have to get that or nothing and that they following instruction. They took us to Leonora Police Station and they went to two other homes and did the same thing. They took my mother, my sister, my brother, myself and leaving the children traumatised. We did nothing that and we were detained for 12 hours. Two of us had to stay for 17 hours at the station and had to pay $10,000 bail each,” she added.
When she returned home, she discovered a broken lock on the front door and the entire house was ransacked.
A section of the ransacked house
“When I come home, I find the front door lock break and they ransack the whole house. I had money in my room that is missing,” Sukhu explained.
Another resident explained that she was awakened at 03:30h by calls to “put on the light”. After speaking with the officers, they related that they were searching for a person by the name of “Ganesh”. They then proceeded to search her house.
“They tell me to go to the Station and I said ‘why, because I didn’t do anything’. That’s when one of them scramble me and my chain that I had on break and I fall down…When I look in the house, they ransacking the house,” the elderly woman relayed.
This publication sought to contact D Division (West Bank Demerara-East Bank Essequibo) Commander Edmond Cooper for a comment on the matter, but calls went unanswered.
