Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed and his sister, Hana Mohamed, have been arrested by police in separate incidents involving an investigation into an alleged $800,000 payment for surveillance footage and a complaint of property damage.
Hadiyyah Mohamed, sister of the two, shared that Hana Mohamed was detained over a complaint that she damaged a vehicle belonging to Senior Superintendent of Police Prem Narine.
Hadiyyah Mohamed said that Narine was seeking $170,000 in damages for an allegedly broken car mirror but insisted that video footage showed the vehicle leaving the scene with both mirrors intact.
Hadiyyah Mohamed said Hana Mohamed was escorted by Criminal Investigation Department (CID) ranks to the Kitty Police Station and she criticised the decision to pursue the complaint, alleging that the authorities were prioritising the matter over other serious criminal investigations. She accused the Director of Public Prosecutions of acting with political bias.
Meanwhile, Azruddin Mohamed’s arrest concerns a police investigation into an alleged $800,000 payment to a police constable for surveillance footage relating to an October 12 incident outside Narine’s residence in Kitty, Georgetown.
Police had visited Azruddin Mohamed’s East Bank Demerara residence on Tuesday and requested that he report to CID Headquarters for questioning over the alleged corrupt transaction. A police officer identified as Superintendent Rodwell Sarabo told an employee at the residence that Mohamed should present himself to investigators.
The visit followed two police statements issued on October 26 concerning a 20-year-old constable attached to the Guyana Police Force’s Command Centre. Police alleged that the constable obtained surveillance footage without authorisation and provided it to Mohamed in exchange for $800,000.
One police statement said the constable allegedly admitted obtaining the recording on Mohamed’s instructions and accepting payment at his Houston, East Bank Demerara residence. Investigators also alleged that the constable spent part of the money on shopping and handed the remainder to his mother.
Azruddin Mohamed has disputed the police account of how he obtained the footage, saying members of the Special Branch supplied it to him because they disagreed with the circumstances surrounding the October 12 incident.
Azruddin Mohamed had described the police visit to his home as another attempt to arrest him and accused the authorities of pursuing him instead of investigating an assassination attempt against him.
Police previously said Narine heard a gunshot, took cover and discharged several rounds from his service firearm towards a vehicle travelling away from the area. The vehicle was subsequently intercepted near the junction of Vlissengen Road and Sandy Babb Street, and Azruddin Mohamed, his driver, Eugene Thorne, and videographer Mario Mohamed were arrested.
The three men were subsequently charged with unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition and attempting to pervert the course of justice. They pleaded not guilty and were granted bail totalling $750,000 each.
Azruddin Mohamed has denied possessing or firing the weapon and has questioned the circumstances under which police said it was recovered from the vehicle. Last Monday, his office called for an independent investigation into the shooting and demanded that Narine be arrested and his telephone and communication records for October 12 and 13 be preserved for forensic examination.
The office also alleged that the CCTV footage released by Mohamed contradicted aspects of the official police account.Mohamed released surveillance footage at a press conference on Monday, maintaining that it supported his allegation that Narine had fired at him.
Meanwhile, Hadiyyah Mohamed said that at approximately 9:00 p.m. last night, Nazar Mohamed, father of Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed, was at the Kitty Police Station following reports that the DPP issued instructions for police to investigate him over alleged threatening language directed at Narine on October 13.
Hadiyyah Mohamed said that Nazar Mohamed who told Narine that he will have to stand before God to answer for the wrong things he is doing to innocent people, is now facing police scrutiny over alleged threatening language.
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