Crossing the threshold to commit crime is reprehensible and shocking - Army Chief

Crossing the threshold to commit crime is reprehensible and shocking – Army Chief

Aug 24, 2009 News

– The law will deal with them
A heinous crime that should be punished to the full extent of the law is how Army Chief Commodore Gary Best described the act of the three ranks who brazenly robbed a Bartica resident on Thursday night.
Two days earlier, 23-year-old Dweive Kant Ramdass was robbed of $17M, allegedly strangled and dumped into the Caiman Hole, Essequibo River by the confessing soldiers. His bloated body was recovered from the murky waters yesterday sparking a visit to the relatives’ Eccles home yesterday by the Army Chief.

GDF Chief of Staff Commodore Gary Best

Commodore Best following private discussions with the relatives, confirmed that his ranks in police custody have confessed to the crime and dubbed the ranks crossing the threshold to commit murder as “reprehensible and shocking.”
Addressing allegations of the Lance Corporal in custody being a powerhouse with apparent friends in high places, who showcases total disregard for the law, Best said “that rank may be a big boy unto himself but the law will deal with him and the others.”
He categorically stated too that good people come to the Guyana Defence Force and sometimes rogue elements too under the guise of being good.
Commodore Best is however optimistic that better people will continue to join the local military despite the recent scarring of the organisation’s public image.

The three ranks leaving the Parika police station

As he pitched for the credibility of the GDF, the Army Chief said no possibility exists for the three soldiers turn robbers to remain in the employ of the GDF.
Meanwhile, following Kaieteur News’ publication of pictures of the Coast Guard vessel used in the robbery showing signs of having fresh paint, Commodore Best said the military will investigate to see if their is any connection. He also said that it is not unusual for the Coast Guard vessels to be repainted.
Best also thinks that society will mature eventually and realise that the three ranks who committed the crime are indeed rogue elements that the whole force should not be judged by.
He said too that “We (the GDF) will continue to hold and band together and weather this storm.”
A former Coast Guard Commander, Best said from initial reports he has launched an inquiry that should be concluded shortly and based on the findings he’ll decide what further administrative action will be taken to bring the unit back to the admirable post it once held. He categorically stated that “I’ve commanded this unit and others after me so we have to investigate and remedy this breakdown.”