Confusion rages over Anti-kidnapping ‘Unit’

Apr 15, 2014 News

There seems to be confusion of sorts with regard to the call for the establishing of an Anti Kidnapping Unit by the combined opposition (APNU A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance For Change AFC).

Commissioner of Police (Ag) Seelall Persaud

General Secretary of the Peoples Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C), Clement Rohee, during his weekly press briefing yesterday at Freedom House, said that contrary to what APNU and AFC are calling for, there is an already established Anti Kidnapping Unit.
According to Rohee, “It amazes me that the Opposition don’t know there exist already an Anti Kidnapping Unit inside the Guyana Police Force. It already exists so they should’ve asked the question first before saying they should set up one.”
However, when questioned about the composition and Head of the Unit, Rohee said that he could not say. He directed such questions to the Commissioner of Police.
“I am not the Commissioner of Police; I am the Home Affairs Minister. I am told that there is an anti kidnapping unit in the Guyana Police Force (GPF) and in fact I would find it strange that after so many years and so many experiences they don’t have such a unit in the force.”
But Police Commissioner (Ag), Seelall Persaud, said that there is no Anti Kidnapping “Unit”, there is an established Anti Kidnapping “Response” which is pooled from ranks throughout the country.
This anti kidnapping response, he said, is not a fixed unit since it does not make sense to have such a unit established because of the limited number of kidnapping cases as well as the significant amount of resources which would be expounded to maintain such a unit.
He explained that their approach was to have several persons trained and whenever there is a kidnapping, those officers who were trained will pool ideas to address the situation.
This, he said, is what happened in the kidnapping of businessman Rajendra Singh. Singh, called Sunil, was kidnapped by two gunmen from his store at Foulis Public Road, East Coast Demerara two Saturdays ago and subsequently killed.

General Secretary of the PPP, Clement Rohee

The Head of the Anti Kidnapping Response, according to acting Commissioner Persaud, is the “Crime Chief” and its trained members are spread across the country.
AFC member, Trevor Williams, in calling for the establishing of an Anti Kidnapping Unit had said, “It is paramount for the law enforcement bodies to stay one step ahead of the criminal elements within our society. This is not the first kidnapping incident and I would have expected that past incidents would have incited the establishment of an anti-kidnapping unit.
“But based on my knowledge, Guyana is still without a kidnapping unit. It is upon this background that I would like to make a call for such an important unit which would deal only with kidnapping…
“Criminals are getting very desperate in Guyana and the geographic spread and challenging terrain makes it hard to apprehend.”
APNU’s shadow Minister for Home Affairs and former Commissioner Winston Felix had said, that while he cannot give an account for anything after 2006, he could confirm that several senior officers of the Police Force had gone through a crash course in anti-kidnapping procedures when he served as Commissioner.
He said that the ranks were supposed to continue a more intensive programme but he is unable to say whether this was done. Felix said that he would make a strong call for the establishment of an Anti Kidnapping Unit.