Following new leads on the startling disappearance of 30 AK-47s from the army’s headquarters last year, a key decision is pending from the authorities relating to a senior GDF official.
According to sources the new intelligence information points in the direction of the official.
A source revealed to this newspaper that as a result a decision may also be made shortly to send the senior army official on leave pending a full investigation or a possible interdiction and signs of this could come as early as this week.
This newspaper understands that the new leads relate to information on where three of the AK-47s were found. The source said that this information would likely be addressed by officials at the level of the Defence Board and higher. The sources point out that there is a risk that handling the information within the ambit of the GDF probe could lead to the compromising of the investigation.
This has spurred much speculation and uneasiness since it is unclear who else might have been involved in the conspiracy in the theft of the weapons.
Stabroek News understands too that the weeks-old revelations have forced the convening of a series of emergency meetings. However, the sources said, investigations are still continuing.
Investigations to date, the source said, have uncovered also that information and intelligence were supplied to investigators in such a way as to throw them off the trail.
Nagging questions have persisted over the army probe and why no one has thus far been held accountable for the theft of the AK-47s more than nine months ago. Despite widespread searches which began after drug-indicted businessman Roger Khan played tapes for US embassy officials, only around one-third of the weapons have been recovered. And though the army has said that some officers will be court-martialled this has not occurred and neither has an official report into the disappearance been made public.
The army recently debunked an article carried in the Kaieteur News in which it was said that a major shake-up loomed in the army over the theft of the AK-47s and labelled this article as misleading, sensational and alarmist.
That news item said that ‘Kaieteur News understands that the rank, a lieutenant colonel, faces disciplinary action over the theft of several of the army’s AK-47 assault rifles. The officer was head of a department at Camp Ayanganna when the weapons disappeared. He has since been transferred.”
The article has said too that the army was preparing to court martial one of its top officers over the theft and added to that officials had confirmed that the army’s top brass was preparing to make major changes to the investigative team that was set up to recover the army’s stolen weapons which included a lieutenant colonel.
Sources have told Stabroek News that the person now under investigation is not a lieutenant colonel.
