Public Security Minister, Khemraj Ramjattan, during a televised broadcast announced that a massive manhunt dubbed operation “Clean Sweep” was ‘intensified’ in a bid to recapture the 17 inmates who are currently on the run (13 from the Lusignan Prison and the initial 4 following the Camp Street conflagration).
According to the Security Minister, the walled pasture at the Lusignan prison held 99 inmates whose numbers were reduced to 86 following the prison break which the authorities got wind of around 07:00hrs on Monday. He noted that the inmates were reported missing after a routine count determined that 13 prisoners were unaccounted for.
“Further checks revealed that a tunnel was dug and tracks were found leading towards the Lusignan backlands” Ramjattan posited.
Ramjattan said that the remaining prisoners will on Monday be transferred to the brick prison at Camp Street which he noted “has been sufficiently completed to securely hold these prisoners.”
He had said at a previous briefing that the remaining “80” (now 86) prisoners in the swampy walled area were segregated from the 400 who were moved to the recently constructed tarmac area for fear that they would “contaminate” the others. “These are the real bad ones that have done a number of acts which make us believe that if they were to go into that tarmac area there would be real trouble” Ramjattan had said.
The Public Security Minister during his publicly aired broadcast on Monday said, “there will be increased security both at Lusignan and Camp Street , inclusive of improvements to the security infrastructure, more perimeter patrols, surveillance lights and cameras and continued clearing of the surrounding areas… there will also be increased security checks on all prisoners throughout the day.”
Moreover, he outlined that operation ‘Clean Sweep’ will see “increased joint services presence on the East Coast and the East Bank of Demerara, inclusive of road blocks and security checks.”
“There are 17 fugitives at large and I ask for your full cooperation in their recapture.Wanted bulletins have been issued and the harbouring of these criminals is a serious offence and anyone found to be assisting them will be dealt with to the fullest extent of the law” said the Minister.
While police have listed the names of the prisoners who escaped from the Lusignan penitentiary, they are yet to issue their accompanying photos.
