One Mile Primary School fire…Lindeners furious as one suspect is released

Aug 15, 2012 News

An official close to the One Mile Primary School fire investigations has revealed that one of the suspects handed over to the police has been released from custody.
This publication was told that the man was released sometime yesterday as investigators say they have no evidence to continue to hold him.

The One Mile Primary School on fire over the weekend, in Region 10.

There are reports that the other suspect is likely to be released as well. Sources close to the investigation told this publication that no evidence has been forthcoming ever since the men were detained on Sunday. This is despite the fact that it has been reported in some sections of the media that the men confessed after being held by residents that they were reportedly paid to carry out the act.
The release of one suspect and the imminent freedom for the other have not gone down well with residents of Linden who feel that the men should be charged.
Chairman of the Region, Sharma Solomon, said he is deeply concerned over this issue. Solomon told this publication that it is very interesting that the police would release the men given that top officials have reportedly been fingered in orchestrating the act.
The Chairman said he is prepared to bring persons forward who will offer all the evidence needed to prosecute the two men. The Chairman cited incidents where other young men from the community have been detained for no apparent reason but are still in the lock ups while police have no evidence of them having committed any crimes.
According to Solomon, there was much talk about the other fires and its perpetrators being Lindeners. However, now that new evidence is surfacing pointing in a different direction nothing is being done.
The official said he will be relentless in ensuring that the perpetrators and intellectual authors of the One Mile Primary School fire are brought to justice.
Senior police sources in Linden have told this newspaper that none of the suspects in the burning of the school had indicated either verbally or otherwise that they were paid to carry out the act.
One source said that a security guard on duty at the school who was confronted by the arsonists has not come forward to identify any of the suspects.
Early Sunday morning, the school which serves hundreds of children was completely destroyed by fire. The Joint Services said in a statement that the security guard on duty was approached by three men armed with cutlasses who threatened to kill her if she did not remove from the location or if she attempted to raise an alarm.
After the security guard left the compound, the building was broken into and computers stolen and was later seen on fire.
The Joint Services said that later Sunday, residents of the Linden community handed over two men to the police at Wismar Police Station who they claimed were suspects in the burning of the One Mile Primary School.