Dear Editor,

Four months have gone by since the shooting to death of our son Arjune Narine Singh. To this day we are completely in the dark about everything surrounding his death. There have been no updates from the police on whether there was a motive for the shooting or whether any suspects have been identified.

I am Mr Narine Singh, the father of Arjune. I personally went to meet the Minister of Home Affairs, Mr Clement Rohee back in mid-May, 2008. I pleaded with him for whatever assistance the government could give to bring justice to my family for the loss of my only son. We need to remind the government that they are the ones responsible for protecting innocent citizens. What is the government doing to ensure that procedures are put in place for investigating and solving criminal activities in the country? Is there an internal investigation with regards to the police officers involved in setting up the road block? Well it does not appear so. Arjune was carrying a cell phone on him the day he was killed. The cell phone was with the police at the crime scene. I was told by the police that they had the cell phone and it would be given to me shortly. I kept asking for the phone and eventually I was told that the phone was missing. I never heard of that cell phone again.

It should be the obligation of the police force to report on this matter and provide updates. I am calling on the Commissioner of Police to investigate the two police officers who set up this checkpoint. These officers should be held accountable and give the reason why a road block was set up at Middleton Street without proper authorization. This has caused the death of an innocent citizen. Why did this have to be the way that the police set up checkpoints? We are calling on the opposition parties and leaders of Guyana to give us justice.

It is putting a lot of stress on myself and my family not knowing what is going on with the investigation, if there is any investigation at all. Our distress and grief is more than we can bear; it is an added burden to carry around, wondering and hoping to hear some feedback from the authorities. Our hopes and prayers are that our son’s death would not just go unsolved.

We are looking for closure so that we can ease some of the pain of not knowing what happened on that fateful night on Middleton Street where our young, intelligent and caring son’s life was snatched away from him. No one deserves to die the way he died. He had a bright future in front of him.

Our family has set up a website in memory of our beloved son (www.ryanarjunenarine.com). We as Guyanese must come together to fight crime in Guyana.

Yours faithfully,
Narine Singh

Editor’ note
We are sending a copy of this letter to Commissioner of Police (ag) Henry Greene for any comments he may wish to make.