Ballistic tests on the spent shells found at the scene of the slaughter of eight miners at the Lindo Creek camp show no link between weapons used by gunmen connected to the Rondell Rawlins gang, well-placed sources in the police forensic unit have disclosed.
Testing of the 7.62 spent shells mostly used to fire AK-47 and M-70 rifles began on Monday and yesterday officers within the forensic unit completed the analysis, finding no match of the shells previously retrieved from murder scenes thought to have been carried out by Rawlins’ gang.
Up to press time last night the police had not officially disclosed the findings from the ballistic tests and when contacted Crime Chief, Seelall Persaud declined to comment.
Other senior sources within the Guyana Police and Defence Forces have also declined to comment publicly on the results of the ballistic analysis, although they acknowledged being aware of the findings. Leonard Arokium, owner of the Lindo Creek dredge has accused the military of killing the miners, but the Joint Services have dismissed his allegations as unthinkable and unimaginable, saying that ranks are highly and specially trained and experienced in the execution of their duties whether in urban or rural terrain.
It is not clear, given the findings of the ballistics test whether the army would subject its weapons issued to ranks who were in the jungle to an examination.
Senior joint services officials have admitted that there were a number of outstanding questions to be answered, but one top official told Stabroek News yesterday that the time to answer those questions was not yet. The official mentioned that investigations were still ongoing in the area and at the end the findings would be made public.
Stabroek News had been told that lawmen who visited the Lindo Creek camp site found evidence of some of the miners being tortured. This newspaper has been informed that one of the skulls found at the location had an impression suggesting that the person was beaten in the head. According to information reaching Stabroek News, on arrival at the camp all the lawmen found were burnt bones.
Resemblance
Security officials believe that the manner of the miners’ killing, with some evidence of torture noticeable, bears some marks of the modus operandi of a particular criminal gang. “While I will not speculate there is some resemblance,” one official said, adding that soldiers would not beat anyone with hammers and burn their bodies.
On Monday the joint services said in their statement that the very conduct of their operations would not allow for such actions. “While we understand the state of mind of Mr. Arokium, having lost his family members in this manner, it is unproductive to directly accuse the Joint Services without any shred of evidence and based solely on speculation”.
They further stated that based on information received from reliable sources, the heinous act was committed by criminal elements they are actively pursuing.
Early Saturday morning, Arokium discovered all of his mine workers dead in a camp located south-east of the country. The men were shot and killed and then burnt. Arokium said he only discovered skulls and bones at the scene. Some relatives of the men are adamant it was the work of the security forces, while others 
believe that gunmen roaming the jungle after fleeing from the joint services three weeks ago might have killed the miners.
Stating that he believed that the army was responsible for the attack and that it could not be Rondell Fineman Rawlins and his gang, Arokium told Stabroek News in an interview on Sunday night that the fugitive would have had to come into “enemy” territory to launch the attack. He explained that the camp could be reached by travelling strictly over land. Driving from Linden and through Ituni there was a “turn-off” 76 km before reaching the Kwakwani junction. The “turn-off” is the UNAMCO logging road which is located approximately a 30-minute walk from the main road. According to Arokium, Fineman was probably moving away from the Joint Services ranks that were scouring the area around Christmas Falls for him and his gang. 
Fineman would then have logically crossed over the Berbice River, the man said. He went on to explain that had Fineman wanted to attack the camp then he would have then had to cross the Berbice River once again, this time moving towards “enemy territory” where the Joint Services ranks were awaiting him. Arokium believes that no man in his right senses would have done that. “I think that the army did it. All the evidence points to the army,” Arokium charged.
Arokium last evening told Stabroek News that on Saturday night when the matter was first made public two government officials, Prime Minister Samuel Hinds and Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee visited his Meten-Meer-Zorg, West Coast Demerara home in search of him but he was not there. However, he said later that night he met with the officials at his Crane Place, South Ruimveldt residence.
“They kept insisting that it was Fineman and his gang that killed the men, but I am not a little boy. They are supposed to be professional and should not make their rank and file get out of hand,” he said.
Further the man said if it were that the men were killed by mistake, the Joint Services should come out and say so. He insisted that the joint services were well aware of where his camp was and noted that he had been told that only days before, his son had assisted the lawmen in cleaning meat which they shared.
Arokium recounted that the young men in particular, who worked with him were youths who he had taken under his wing and given a job, adding that it was extremely saddening the way they were killed. “Those 
boys were not supposed to be killed like that I took them into my hands, give them work and they were learning the job beautifully and they were never lazy, they did their work well,” he recounted.
Asked whether he had heard any word on whether the remains would be flown to the city and handed over to relatives, Arokium said he was not aware of when this would happen since he has not been notified by anyone.
“They haven’t told me anything and the people’s families are calling me and I don’t know what to tell them because I myself ain’t hearing nothing,” he said.
It is believed that the miners were killed sometime between Sunday June 15 and Tuesday June 17.
Government Pathologist, Nehaul Singh who had viewed the bodies is yet to make any pronouncement as to how long the men might have been dead.
well well well….since the test has unofficially excluded fineman and his gang who does it point to….its either the joint service…….a phantom gang…….or the members of the brazilian camp 4 mile away who saw this as a crime of opportunity…..its just speculation but who knows it may bear some truth to it
well we all speculating now
but this whole thing is getting more bizarre by the day
here are somethings for u to think about
1. if fineman and his gang killed these guys b4 goin to christmas falls….can any of the articles found there be from the now deceased men…such as the solar system and such…..can mr Arokium or any of the relatives identify any of the items
2. there was a licensed firearm with the men….so is it possible for GPF to stumble upon these men…..sees a firearm and open fire…only to realise they have the wrong guys…please remember it was the police who 1st initiated the search then the GDF was called in…so the GDF had knowledge of the camps location when they shared the beef but not the police
3. the brazilian camp thats a few miles away needs to be investigated……maybe they went about robbing these men as a crime of opportunity since they probably knew the joint forces was hot in persuit of fineman
4. it was recently mentioned that fineman and his gang stayed at a camp with a man in their bid to escape but didnt kill him….thats rather strange since they are allegedly leaving no witnesses…..and also the passengers in the bus why not kill them too
5. its my belief that maybe there is another group thats in hot pursuit of fineman and his gang reason being is that on the 2 sighting of the gunmen…..1 was a group of men with dread locks and the second was men in army gear…..the 3 suspects killed who civilian clothing..so who are the men in the army clothes and they also wore bullet proof vests
6. is there an accountability report for the bullets used by the joint forces whenever they go out on a mission and return ? if so maybe that would shed some light on matters arising and just maybe we will get somewhere
7. what is the motive for the mr Arokium to be lying or rather accusing the joint forces of such a crime ?
inconclusion there are more questions than answers here what ever evidence that was at lindo creek has been destroyed by the fire….we all know any findings done by the professionals will lead in 1 direction so dont look for much with that …lets just pray that who ever the guilty party is be caught and is placed before the courts….
let me also offer my condolences to the families of the deceased…may god give u the strenght and courage in the days…weeks and months ahead
MY GOODNESS! WHO CAN WE REALLY TRUST NOW? THIS IS THE VERY REASON WHY THE COUNTRY BECAME LAWLESS IN THE FIRST PLACE, LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSONNEL WHO SOMEHOW THINK THEY’RE ABOVE THE LAW. LET US SEE WHAT NANCY STORY THEY HAVE FOR US THE UPSTANDING PEOPLE ESPECIALLY THE FAMILY OF THE MINERS THAT PERISHED IN SUCH AN UNSPEAKABLE MANNER BECAUSE GIVEN ALL I HAVE READ SO FAR , “IT SEEMS THAT A CHOSEN FEW OF THE JOINT SERVICES PERSONNEL HAVE LET GREED GET THE BEST OF THEM AND THOUGHT THAT THEY CAN SOMEHOW GET AWAY WITH IT!”,
WHO DID IT? If not FINEMAN, not the JS, then WHO? Could they have turned on each other? NAAH. Somebody needs to come forward and speak so the families can find some sort of closure.
Now that the balistics test have been concluded and the evidence shows it was not fineman and his gang, so it must have been done by another gang or persons who may have robbed the campers and knowing that fineman is wanted would be blamed. So i hope the joint forces focus their attention in another direction, i would like to see fine man and his gang caught and bring to justice and punished to the full extent of the law
Clutching at straws my friend? Another gang? Guyana must be the wild wild west.
It does not disqualify Fineman and his gang as they could have used different guns.
But it does not implicate him either as the modus operadi is different.
Killing someone with a gun is different from killing someone with a sledge hammer.
In any event we can polygraph the Joint Services personels in the area.
WHAT WAS THAT? BALLISTICS TESTS ON THE 7.62 SHELLS FOUND AT THE CRIME SCENE DID’NT NOT MATCH ANY PREVIOUSLY FOUND AT CRIME SCENES LINKED TO FINEMAN, WOW! I WONDER WHO DID IT? COULD IT BE ALIENS USING M70 AND AK47 NOW? DID ANYONE SEE UFO’S IN THE AREA?
GET REAL PEOPLE, WAKE UP GUYANA, WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP AND SEE WHAT’S HAPPENING TO OUR BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY AND TELL ME WHO CAN WE REALLY TRUST NOW?
I have made my position very clear yesterday when I said that the firearms expert (s) will be objective and its appears that they were very objective. The findings have shed new light on the investigation because it appears from the firearms experts that the shells did not match guns recovered from Fineman gang.
Do not be too quick to accused the Joint Servicesat this time because Fineman is still on the run and no examination has been done on their firearms which. It is a distinct possibility that the guns they have in their possesion could have been used to killed the eight miners.
I am awaiting the examination of the Joint Service firearms and I hoping that the records are properly kept to show who officer was issued which gun with the serial number properly recorded, the date issue, time return and the amount of shots issueand the amount of shots returned after the end of his or her duty. If this is done correctly then we are moving in the right direction were the Joint Service is concern.
If all the weapons issued are examined and the results show that the guns did not fire the shots, we have a very serious problem on our hands.
Like u said it’s a very serious problem, now is the chance for the law makers to prove to the people the they r there to serve and protect them and on that note if doing the right thing means cleaning out their closets then clean out their colset is what they must do , im not quick to point any fingers but people r doing the math and 1&1 = 2 , so i pray the that the right thing is done i feel Guyana has bleed enough .
Springs…
I think its time police start investigating crime the real way and stop the assumptions. Thats the only way they are going to regain the trust they lost especially in the black communities and i know they can do it. However, fineman is a criminal and he should be captured and brought before the court to answer for his crimes. Also equal attention should be pay to finding the those that slaughter those miners as is being paid to fineman and his gang.
We’re on the right path so far…let get these people.
Oh No! This cannot be true! Fineman was not responsible for this incident?
[sarcasm]
it seems like you are in contact with fineman to know he didn’t do it!!!!! you seem pretty confident,eh.
maybe they tested the wrong samples
sarcasm, this is not true, how can we believe the test, these men cannot be trained in a few weeks to perform ballistics test. lol
U really sound like a Fineman Supporter instead of the Police & Army.Do u think they smashed in these guys head ,shot them then burnt their bodies to hide the crime?.Well if so Guyana is indeed lost either way.Do u believe anything the US government tells u ??????Why not wait on the facts before u support the criminals.
Well now this new development poses more questions than answers.
Maybe this area was a refuge for many illegal operators, at least that is what the authorities would have us believe, and in their haste the security forces missed them completely.
Well come to think about it how far was the illegal airstrip from this area. The one that was bigger that Timehri. Isn’t this a joke. An illegal Airstrip bigger that our international Airport. This Govt need to wake up.
Great job Stabroek news. I can tell you are on this story like white on rice. If you had not gotten someone to leak this information then who knows what cooked up story we would have gotten. Keep going after these sources. The whole story must be exposed.
where is RK he normally leave his comments early.lol so what u got to say now buddy?
I am shocked actually – whoever killed these miners must be punished.