`Death squad’ witness killing:
Probe net widens
SEVERAL cops remained under close arrest yesterday and more persons connected to self-confessed `Death squad’ informant George Bacchus were pulled in by police for questioning as the probe into Bacchus’ killing widened.

Some colleagues of the cops under close arrest were placed under tight scrutiny and asked to report to police headquarters each day, sources said.

A well-placed source said several persons closely related to Bacchus, who was shot dead in his bed early Thursday morning, were also asked to report to police headquarters where they were grilled for several hours by investigators.

The source said most policemen who were part of the Dragon Alpha Squad based at the Brickdam police station in Georgetown were questioned on Friday. The squad members were transferred and the squad disbanded.

In light of this new development ranks were not pleased and some were already in the process of securing sick leave, the source said.

The Dragon Alpha Squad was a special group that tracked hardcore criminals.

Police Commissioner Mr. Winston Felix last week promised a thorough probe into the killing by a high level team of investigators and more than a dozen persons had been grilled by yesterday.

Among those questioned were the part owner of a funeral parlour in Georgetown who is related to a man accused of killing Bacchus’ brother earlier this year, a Communications Officer in the media, employees of George Bacchus, and a number of well-known and close acquaintances of the dead informant.

Police are expected to this week also question leaders of the main Opposition People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), TV `talk show’ hosts and media persons who had contact with Bacchus, a source said yesterday.

PNCR Leader, Mr. Robert Corbin on Thursday handed over to Felix a video tape of an interview done with Bacchus and a sworn affidavit by the murdered informant.

People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/Civic) Member of Parliament, Ms. Shirley Edwards and media operative, Mr. Michael Gordon, on Friday voluntarily submitted written statements to the police on their contact with Bacchus.

Bacchus had claimed he was the key informant for the `Phantom Squad’, an alleged group of `for-hire’ vigilantes who he charged was responsible for the murder of close to 40 men, many of whom were wanted by the police.

Bacchus further claimed that he was the key informant for the group until the hit men began to target individuals unconnected with any crime. He said that when he began to speak out, the men threatened to turn their guns on him.

He implicated Home Affairs Minister, Mr. Ronald Gajraj in the operations of the death squad, a charge the minister has repeatedly denied.

Bacchus’ subsequent appearances in the media led to calls from several political parties – most notably the PNCR – and civil society organisations for Gajraj to step aside or resign to facilitate a Commission of Inquiry into the allegations.

The minister offered to go on leave to allow an impartial investigation into the allegations against him.

President Bharrat Jagdeo last month appointed a three-member commission consisting of Justice of Appeal, Mr. Ian Chang; Mr. Ivan Crandon; and Mr. Norman MacLean, to spearhead an inquiry into the allegations by Bacchus.

The `informant’ said he would have testified about the death squad to the commission of inquiry.

According to Edwards, Bacchus had approached her to facilitate the renouncement of his previous allegations against Gajraj and she had arranged for Gordon to do the interview in which he cleared the minister of the charge.

Bacchus later admitted to having done the interview on video tape but claimed he was offered $10,000,000 and safe passage out of the country to do it.

Bacchus was due to testify in the preliminary inquiry that is under way into the murder charge against the two men he claimed killed his brother, Shafeek Bacchus, outside his home earlier this year. He said in media interviews that he was the intended target of the men who gunned down his brother on January 5.

He claimed that those who shot his brother were members of the death squad.

Indications are that Bacchus was shot with a .38 gun at close range in his bed at his Princes Street, Georgetown home at about 02:45 hrs Thursday, police sources said.

One man told investigators he saw two men on a motorcycle ride up to the yard and shortly after shots rang out.

But he claimed he saw only one man riding away, the source said.

Investigators have been baffled by other aspects of the case.

Bacchus kept several dogs in his yard, including a pit bull, but neighbours did not hear any of them barking or attacking any intruder or intruders.

Then there was the apparent ease of entry available to possible killers, especially in light of Bacchus’ repeated claims that there was a price on his head, the source said.

He said main doors and a side window adjacent to the stairway on the southern side of the building were left open.

Investigators are also looking into the absence of anybody else sleeping that night in the area of the house where Bacchus slept.

Bacchus, one source said, usually slept in his room with two male members of the household sleeping just outside the door.

However, due to a recent spat, the two men decided to sleep on the ground floor of the four-storey building while Bacchus slept on the first floor.

Bacchus’ extended family usually occupied the house along with two handymen, neighbours said.

“Most of the people living there were not there Thursday night”, the source said, adding that investigators were also looking into this aspect of the case.

“There are several puzzling aspects we are trying to unravel”, he said.

A neighbour said that shortly after he heard the shots, he was asked by Bacchus’ nephew and two of the family’s helpers who reside in the building to call the police.

The neighbour said that at no time did he hear any vehicle or any other sounds of movement after the gunshots rang out.

He said it was hard to conceive of anybody getting easy access to the Bacchus residence because of the numerous floodlights on the property.

Woman soldier takes on Mt. Ayanganna and conquers
By Linda Rutherford

Speaking to the media earlier this month about her epic feat and what drove her into doing it, Chung, who was part of a 12-man Guyana Defence Force (GDF) team to make the customary climb this year, as part of our annual Independence celebrations, to plant the national standard, the Golden Arrowhead, atop the 6700-foot massif, said:

“From the moment I became an officer…even while I was training, you’ll talk about things you can do in the Army. And Ayanganna was one of the things a woman, or female officer, had never done. It’s also one of those patrols that you don’t want to send a woman on, because it’s difficult. And there is the traditional view on the post a woman should hold in the Army. So, very early, even while I was training, the idea to challenge what existed….started to emerge.”

Having second thoughts when the moment finally did arrive and she realised the enormity of the task ahead of her never entered the equation, she said.

“Then it wasn’t the time to second-guess myself. I was trying to go on this patrol even before I got commissioned. So, I had time to think about it; about all the things that could possibly go wrong. And I had put systems in place, in terms of training and conditioning the mind….and come to a sort of acceptance. So there wasn’t time to second-guess myself; I just had to do it and that was my focus.”

The actual climb itself wasn’t too difficult because, as she had said earlier, she had been bracing herself to deal with it now going on two years. But as often happens, no amount of planning could prepare you for what the situation would be like on the ground when the time does arrive.

“…. when we started out first, I got winded, very winded; quite early, because I was not used to the altitude. Secondly, I got cramps within the first hour…one leg and then the other, because the muscle is not used to that sort of movement.”

Some of the men, also, she rather suspected, were faring no better than she.

“There were other people who were pulling up like I was, and I guess they were just as winded as I was because nobody was talking. But then again, they’re much stronger; their legs are much stronger than mine, of course, so they can go much faster. But I won’t necessarily say that I was under tremendous pressure.”

It took them the better part of two days to make the climb, she said. They did it in bounds, “like you’ll walk for like one hour and something or two hours depending on how you feel. And then you keep going.”

According to a release from base command, Camp Ayanganna, which took its name from the very mountain they were about to ascend, the team arrived at the foot of the mountain where they would start the climb, on Saturday, May 22. They were inserted there by helicopter, it said. The actual climb commenced the following day, Sunday, May 23.

Weather conditions that first day were excellent, Chung recalled.“

We didn’t have much rain, but you got wet because the trees were wet… and you walk through water.” Were it not for the lush vegetation underfoot, she said, they might never have made it to the top, as they provided much-needed leverage in rather tricky situations, such as particularly steep areas of the mountain.

Asked whether at any point she ever felt like giving up and turning around, she replied in the negative.

“To give up at no time entered my mind,” the plucky woman soldier said. “I didn’t think of it. Giving up wasn’t an option, Because before I left, this was something that I had thought about; I knew what I was doing; I had set myself little aims and objectives; these are the things I am going to abide by to get me up there. Like I am not going to complain; I am always going to carry my own weight; I am not going to be a burden to anyone; and that as long as my legs are under me, I can keep going.”

She recalls, however, chancing upon a secretive smile on the face of one of the ranks at a particularly tricky moment during the climb; a look she couldn’t quite put her finger on at the time.

It was not until she reached the top and saw the collective look of admiration on their faces that she realised that the rest of the team had been secretly wagering among themselves as to whether she would indeed make it. They even applauded her, she said.

“The only person, other than me, who was convinced that I would make it to the top,” she said, “was the person who carried the patrol, Second Lt. Bennons. I trained with him, so he, more than anyone else, knew how I would manage under pressure.”

Strange enough, her initial reaction at finally attaining her goal was not one of triumph but curiosity.

“It was no big thing,” she said. “I didn’t realise what I had done until I was coming down. But when I was up there it was no big thing. I was like…this is the top… this is the flagpole.”

She was more concerned, she said, with how the pioneering team was able to lug all that stuff up the mountainside, which is treacherous in places, to erect the flagpole.

“Because, if you see it, it’s as if somebody paved in concrete the actual spot where the plaques are. You don’t even want to have to carry ten pounds up that mountain,” she said.

Having to overnight at the top was another experience in itself. Contrary to popular opinion, that the view from the top of a mountain can take one’s breath away, Chung, who says she is at that stage in her life where age is irrelevant, said:

“There is no view; when it’s dark, it’s dark. And even during the day, visibility can sometimes be very poor. You’re actually in clouds; you look around and the clouds are just over there. It’s also wet all the time….. and cold, even during the day.”

As for what other goal or challenges she has set herself, whether within or outside of the Army, Chung, who is a member of the Second Infantry Battalion Reserve, said that’s a bit too early to predict at this juncture.

“There are a number of things I would certainly love to do,” she said. “But even if I can’t, I would certainly love to see other women venture out into new areas like I think. I may be wrong….like there was much debate before I left for that trip….but I think women can serve and do just about anything as their male counterparts in the Army. If you look at other Armies in the world, women are doing just about anything. I think we still have a very old-fashioned view of the role of women in the Guyana Defence Force and I certainly hope that over time, that will change. And that can only change if women not only challenge it, but successfully prove that they are capable.”

And taking on Ayanganna gain?