Now that the joint services have been able to eliminate wanted men Rondell ‘Fineman’ Rawlins and Jermaine ‘Skinny’ Charles, investigators are beginning to crack the back of what was a well-organized network that supported and aided, particularly Charles, following his escape from the Sparendaam lock-ups.
A police source told Stabroek News that the lawmen were in pursuit of many persons who lent all types of support to the men and were investigating others who could soon face the courts. The source said that once evidence pointed to the fact that those individuals assisted the escapee in any way, they would be charged.
Following months of pursuit, the joint services last week shot and killed Guyana’s most wanted Rawlins, for whom a $50 million reward had been issued for information leading to his arrest, along with multiple murder accused and prison escapee Charles. So far two persons have been charged with harbouring Charles, William Younge, his uncle and a female family friend, Louton Simon.
Meanwhile, this newspaper was reliably informed that up to press time last night, Charles’s aunt was in police custody assisting with investigations and being questioned along the lines of possibly harbouring the man. This newspaper was told that the woman, who was at the Georgetown Public Hospital mortuary where the men’s bodies were taken for post-mortem examinations on Monday, was arrested by the police shortly after.
The woman was held overnight and up to late yesterday had not been released. This newspaper was reliably informed too that a sister of Seon Grant, the man who was killed outside his Timehri shack where the wanted men had been staying for some time, was also taken in for questioning following the post-mortem examinations on Monday. She was reportedly questioned and released late yesterday.
Meanwhile, another relative of Charles told this newspaper that other relatives were afraid that they too would be rounded up and charged. The woman, who did not want her name mentioned, insisted that the uncle who has been charged with harbouring Charles, was innocent.
“William used to always say that he nephew ain’t gon make him get his death. But look what happen now. I mean he already dead and now its only more stress for the family. They done kill he. Why they want to lock us up?” the concerned relative said.
The relative was particularly concerned about aunt currently in custody. She said the woman was a security guard and a mother of four and being kept by the police for such a long time meant she could not prepare her children for school.
The relative said that she and others were staying far from any police station since they too feared being pulled in for questioning.
This newspaper was reliably informed that Charles was seen frequently in the Agricola community and was also seen with former friends. The police are said to be looking for several persons and a man who reportedly chauffeured the now dead fugitive around.
Early Thursday morning, acting on a tip-off, teams from the Joint Services Operation Group and the Guyana Defence Force Special Force along with members of the Special Forces proceeded to an area in Timehri about 500 metres east of the GDF ammunition dump. There, the lawmen said, they came under fire from shooters in an identifiable house. They returned fire and saw three men running from the house. When they descended on the scene they found the body of a man who was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. The man was identified as Grant.
The two men who had fled ended up in Kuru Kururu at a place villagers call Kakabura at a small, unfinished concrete structure. There was an exchange of gunfire around 12.45 pm in which two men, later identified as Rawlins and Charles were killed.
