| Victims of the Lindo Creek massacre.– “Eyewitness” still in protective custodyOn June 21, 2008, dredge owner Leonard Arokium discovered the charred remains of eight of his employees in a burnt-out camp at Lindo Creek, Berbice River.Among the dead were his son Dax Arokium, brother, Cedric Arokium,Wholesale Jerseys, Compton Speirs, Horace Drakes, Clifton Wong, Lancelot Lee, Bonny Harry and Nigel Torres.It’s now four years and a month and the controversy still remains over who actually killed the miners.For one, the eyewitness who the police had claimed was in their custody for safekeeping remains a mysterious character.Many had doubted that such a person existed, with one source claiming that “it was a convenient boasting,Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic, since I don’t believe that that person existed.”However, yesterday Crime Chief Seelall Persaud confirmed that the person who was deemed an eyewitness is still in protective custody. This is in addition to the miners’ remains still being kept in a refrigerator at a city morgue awaiting their final resting place. Authorities are awaiting the results of DNA testing from Jamaica before handing over the remains to the various families.But just what do the authorities hope to achieve by keeping the “eyewitness” in custody so long?According to the Crime Chief,Cheap NFL Jerseys China, there is a way forward in the case, since investigators have been building capacity over the years.“He’s in protective custody. We’re still awaiting the analysis of the DNA. When we get that then the DPP will advise,” the crime chief explained.Of course there is still controversy over who actually killed the miners, with the owner of the camp and the security forces coming up with different theories.Leonard Arokium claimed that he had received a phone call from a woman who told him that some “soldiers” had shot and killed his men and burnt their bodies.The Joint Services denied the claims made by the dredge owner that soldiers committed the brutal crime.Police had blamed the attack on Rondell ‘Fineman’ Rawlins and his gang, whom they said they had encountered during a confrontation at Christmas Falls a few weeks prior to the gruesome discovery.Rawlins and members of his gang were subsequently hunted down and killed, and the security forces had suggested that the Lindo Creek case had died with them.But if, according to the police, the perpetrators of the crime are “Fineman” and his gang, who have all been killed, why is it necessary to keep the “eyewitness” in protective custody? In the meantime, the state has incurred a whopping expense of in excess of $33M and counting to keep the remains.The DNA results should have been handed over by January 2012,cheap nfl jerseys online, but Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee had said that notwithstanding the commitment given by the Jamaica Forensic team, they have not delivered.“They had promised us to deliver the remainder of the analysis, but they have not delivered. We are in touch with them and we are assured that their results will soon be available,” Rohee said.He had also justified the amount being spent by the administration to store the remains of the Lindo Creek victims.The Minister pointed out that the remains are very important to the families as well as the integrity of the investigation.“The integrity of these remains is important for any further analysis and if it costs a million dollars a day to ensure proper storage we have to do it,Wholesale Jerseys Online,” the Minister had declared.Rohee added that his Government and the police would have come under more scrutiny if they had failed to properly store the remains.“If we were not doing that (storing the remains at a parlour) and these remains were left stored in a box where rats and cockroaches were interfering with it, we would have been worse off and we would have been accused of being delinquent,Jerseys Wholesale,” Rohee added.“This is the price we have to pay if we want serious results.”But the actions of the state may not be pleasing the relatives of the victims who definitely want closure to the now four-year-old saga.“You are denying them that on the grounds that as the law enforcement agency you want to conduct a proper investigation. You are actually prolonging their sorrow,” a senior police official who worked on the case told this newspaper.He questioned whether Guyana could afford to incur such an expense when there might be nothing tangible to achieve in terms of actually solving the case.But the stalling of the case is certainly fuelling the controversy.“It only lends to the mystery and suspicions that occurred from the beginning when the bones were discovered and fingers were pointed,” the official told this newspaper. |
