Army slaps down KN Lindo Creek report

The Guyana Defence Force (GDF) last evening refuted a report in the Kaieteur News (KN) yesterday which said that one of the coast guard ranks implicated in the murder of Bartician Dweive Kant Ramdass, was stationed at Lindo Creek last year where eight miners were killed and their bodies burnt.

“…the Guyana Defence Force wishes to categorically state that, the allegation made by one of the arrested Coast Guard ratings, that he was involved in (a) Joint Services operation at Lindo Creek, (is) false and without substance,” the army said in a statement.

The report under the headline, ‘Army Chief, Coast Guard rank differ on Lindo Creek’ said that one of the arrested ranks told the newspaper on video tape that he was one among the joint services ranks who was stationed at Lindo Creek. The report also said that Commodore Gary Best told the newspaper that the rank was not a part of the military group that was stationed in the area.

The report said in the video recording made by the newspaper the rank reaffirmed that he was at Lindo Creek but when asked to “divulge what had happened there, the soldier told this newspaper to speak with the hierarchy of the army.”

“The GDF wishes to state that the Rank who is being quoted by KN was never involved in any activities of the Joint Services Operations Group (JSOG),” the army reiterated.

It said that in the past the newspaper had “printed and circulated information which sought to link the Joint Services to the occurrences at Lindo Creek. This was done, despite the lack of evidence to support their reportage. Though requested, there was no retraction of those reports.”

Stating that yesterday’s report was devoid of any evidence, the army called on the newspaper to print a “full retraction of the scurrilous information in the article.”