The five-member high-level team from the Regional Security System (RSS) that came to Guyana to assist local investigators with the probe into the murders of three teenagers from West Berbice has recommended that the Police Force do more work.
This was disclosed by President Dr Irfaan Ali today.
The RSS team, which was led by an Assistant Commissioner of Police and comprised officials from countries within the Regional Investigative Management Systems (RIMS) was in Guyana for one week and departed on October 6. They have since handed over a report to the Guyana Police Force (GPF).
“I have been briefed on the content of it [the report] and what I have been told is that the RSS did some work, they recommended some additional work to be done but in total they were satisfied with the work the local police have done,” President Ali said.
The findings of the RSS investigation have not been released to the public.
When contacted on Tuesday last for a comment on the RSS report, Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum said he was not in a position to divulge any details.
He, however, stated that police are still pursuing various leads regarding the murders of cousins: 16-year-old Isaiah Henry and 19-year-old Joel Henry as well as 17-year-old Haresh Singh.
Isaiah and Joel had left their Number Three Village, West Coast Berbice (WCB) home to pick coconuts, but two days later, on September 6, 2020, their butchered bodies were found in the backlands of Cotton Tree, WCB.
Then on September 9, 2020, 17-year-old Singh was found murdered at the Number Three Village backlands. It is suspected that his death was in retaliation for the murders of the Henry cousins, since he is related to one of the persons initially held by the police.
While several persons were arrested for the murder of the Henry teens and later released, to date no arrest has been made in relation to Singh’s murder.
Police had explained that the location where the bodies of the Henry boys were found was not the primary crime scene, that is, it is not the location where the young men were killed.
Investigators are yet to locate the primary crime scene.
Meanwhile, an Argentine Team of Forensic Anthropology, the world’s foremost agency in forensic anthropology which was expected to arrive in Guyana to support the Police Force in its probe into the murders of the three teenagers, has suffered a setback due to the high number of COVID-19 cases in that country.
The team was due in Guyana two weeks ago to commence their investigations but with the high cases of the novel coronavirus in that country, it is unclear when the team will arrive.
According to a well-placed source, once the team arrives in Guyana, their main priority is to comb the areas where the mutilated bodies of the teens were discovered for any forensic evidence.
