TSU head rubbishes claim of involvement in plot to destabilise gov’t

Head of the Tactical Services Unit (TSU) Senior Superintendent Lyndon Alves has denounced claims published by a website, including that he is plotting with main opposition APNU to destabilise the PPP/C administration.

In a press release released through the Guyana Police Force yesterday, Alves said while he has “no apology to offer anyone for dealing in a professional manner with any member of parliament, whether from the opposition or government benches, in [his] capacity as a member of the Guyana Police Force,” the account featured on the website is an attempt to sully his character and as such he is forced to set the record straight.

He said the allegations seem to stem from a meeting with APNU MP and former Commissioner of Police Winston Felix held at his Eve Leary office on Tuesday. According to Alves, Felix accompanied the personal security officer for the Leader of the Opposition David Granger. The officer, he noted, had been sworn in as a Special Constable and trained in the handling, care and custody of firearms and was to be issued with a firearm. “That was the sole purpose of Mr Winston Felix’s visit to my office,” he insisted.

Linden Alves

Further, allegations that Felix later left his office with a file folder containing documents are “furthest from the truth since there was never any need for me to provide any documents to Mr Felix and he did not arrive with any,” Alves said.

The TSU head also said claims that he had authorised the unleashing of violence against Afro-Guyanese to make the PPP/C look bad were “insane ramblings” and added that suggestions that he demanded a daily extortion fee from anti-crime patrol units was a “delusional tale.”

Also addressing the claims that he boasted about his affiliation to APNU and habitually makes unsavoury remarks about the Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee, Alves said that his associations with any  group or political party are his private business and within his constitutional rights. “However let it be known that I have always executed my duties free from political or other considerations outside of my professional capacity,” he said.

Further, he noted, for him to speak “intemperately” about public figures, particularly Minister Rohee, the police force’s subject minister, “may be a case of career suicide in the Guyana context.”

The senior superintendent also denied claims that he had introduced the woman who had accused late Commissioner of Policy Henry Greene of rape to Felix. Alves said the only time he had ever met the woman was when she, accompanied by her lawyer, had made the complaint. As second in command of ‘A’ Division he said he had been summoned to the meeting in the Divisional Commander’s office.

About two months ago Alves had testified at the Linden Commission of Inquiry convened to investigate and make recommendations about the operations of the police force in the wake of the deaths of three persons and  injuries sustained by over 20 during police operations during the July 18 protest action.