Police investigators have received a more detailed description of the CG motorcycle used by the men who shot Commissioner of Insurance Maria van Beek.

Police also continued questioning several persons, including a man held hours after Thursday’s shooting, but sources said they have not had any major breakthrough in the case.

Maria van Beek

When contacted, ‘A’ Division Commander Leroy Brumell told Stabroek News that statements were still being taken from persons and that the one man in custody is still being questioned. He added that they are still looking for the motorcycle and another person.

A police source explained that so far investigators have received information about the colour of the motor cycle and that is the lead that they are working on. However he pointed out that no licence plate number has been received, which he blamed on the fact that at the time of the incident it was raining heavily and the roadway was flooded.

Crime Chief Seelall Persaud had said on Friday that the man in custody had not been identified as one of the perpetrators of the crime but was only picked up for questioning.

In the light of the incident, security has been beefed up to ensure the safety of van Beek, who is judicial manager of CLICO (Guyana), her relatives and the employees of the ailing insurance company.

Head of the Presidential Secretariat Roger Luncheon recently urged the media to be patient with the police and give them the space and the time to conduct their investigations.

van Beek was on her way to work when the shooting occurred. According to reports, she was stuck in a long line of traffic at the corner of Lombard and Leopold streets during a heavy downpour around 8:15 am when a gunman walked up to her vehicle and fired a single shot through the driver’s side window. He jumped on a waiting motor cycle parked on Leopold Street and fled.

van Beek was taken to hospital and underwent a successful surgery to remove the bullet that was lodged in her chest.
Following the report of the shooting, police said, response was immediate and several patrols were dispatched in the city, while road blocks were set up at the Demerara Harbour Bridge and on the lower East Coast in a bid to apprehend the perpetrators.

While no clear motive was revealed for the shooting, police said that they were treating it as an attempted murder, whether it has been an attempt to threaten or kill the woman since there was no evidence to suggest that the gunman went to rob her.

Observers have said that the shooting may be linked to her work as it occurred just two days after she presented her findings on CLICO’s financial standings to the High Court.