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Lies, deceit, cover-up, so relatives allege:
Police behind cop’s murder!
... 7 months later, grieving widow seeing
hell to survive, despite promises from Junior Security Minister,
Second Division Association |
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By SHARMAIN BABOOLAL |
IS
there a cover-up in the murder of Police Constable Omah Maharaj,
43, who died when a hand grenade was thrown into the police vehicle
he used to respond to a robbery at JSL SpeedPak Services at Golden
Grove Road, Piarco last May?
Concerned relatives fear that the hierarchy of the Trinidad and
Tobago Police Service is deliberately stalling in their investigations
into the May 6 murder of the cop, who was one of two officers who
responded to the robbery call on that fateful Friday night.
Two bandits were shot dead -- and one man made off in a getaway
car -- in what cops concluded was an attempt to grab a shipment
of arms or cellphones from JSL SpeedPak.
However, to date, no one has been arrested or interrogated in connection
with the killing of Maharaj, and angry relatives say the police
have been pushing them from pillar to post, each time they have
inquired about holding an inquest into what was described as the
most brazen attack on the Police Service in recent years.
Now, months after the cop’s murder, the investigating officer
is reported to be on vacation leave and the only eyewitness to the
shooting, Police Constable Jeffers, is alleged to be hiding from
Maharaj’s relatives.
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PC
OMAH
MAHARAJ
- murdered.
PC
OMAH
MAHARAJ’s
mother at
his funeral.
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And
none of the other promises made amidst the emotions of the funeral
service have been kept.
“Many other people have been murdered and they have detained
people for that, but we have heard not one thing about Omah’s
case,” an angry relative told TnT Mirror.
“As a cop, at least, they should investigate this matter,
instead of trying to push it under the covers as if it never happened;
as if he was just another statistic,” the grieving relative
continued.
“But, we should have expected this, because the police have
been feeding us with lies ever since that tragic night.
“In the first instance, when they contacted us, we were told
that Omah’s body was at the Forensic Sciences’ Centre,
St. Clair, and that we could not view it until the following Monday
(May 9).
“When we arrived at St. Clair on the Monday morning, we were
told the body was at the mortuary of the Port of Spain General Hospital
and had been there all weekend.
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“Even before that, a senior officer (name called)
told us that they knew who was responsible for the murder.
“The police also told us that Omah’s entire
body was in flames after the attack, and that he could not
have moved to come out of the car which he was driving,
using one hand on the steering wheel while using the other
to shoot at the bandits who had opened fire on him and PC
Jeffers who was in the front passenger seat.
The relative continued: “In fact, we are not even
sure who shot the other two bandits who were found dead
at the scene of the crime.
“Omah was shot on his right side and we got a second
opinion from another doctor who told us that, mercifully,
he died instantly, since that bullet would have penetrated
his liver.”
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Murdered
cop’s common
-law wife, LUTCHMIE
RAMOUTARSINGH
and one of their
children.
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The relative added: “The hand grenade landed on the hand brakes
of the car -- which is still lodged at the Arouca Police Station
-- which meant that it took away a portion of his left side, which
we saw when we looked at his body in the mortuary.”
“But if he was killed instantly when the bullet penetrated
his liver, then how could he have been screaming for help, calling
on PC Jeffers and telling him that his leg was stuck and he could
not come out of the car?”
“And how come Jeffers claimed to have taken him out of the
car alive and heard him utter his last words, which was to take
care of his wife and family?” the concerned relative asked.
“The mystery is further compounded by the fact that PC Jeffers
has been literally running each time he sees anyone of Omah’s
siblings,” the relative alleged.
“We have also tried to meet the investigating officer attached
to the La Horquetta Police Station, but while he invited us to come
to meet with him, he was absent when we showed up.
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“In fact, Omah’s 23-year-old
daughter, Zaniffer, who came from England to attend her
father’s funeral, was given the runaround by the investigating
officers.
“They also agreed to meet with her and never showed
up, which left her really distressed.”
“This was no criminal who was caught in the act but
a good cop who was killed in the line of duty,” the
relative reminded.
“Why else would they have given him a military funeral
and a 21-gun salute before his body was cremated at Caroni?”
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The
burnt car in which PC MAHARAJ was
murdered.
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The relative continued: “On the night that he was killed,
a very senior officer said that they held the driver of the getaway
car -- lone survivor among the bandits -- but confessed they had
to release him because there was no evidence to keep him in custody.
“Were they saying that just to comfort us, then?
“Or was it the truth?” the relative wondered aloud,
almost in tears.
“There is this wild theory that cops may have been involved
in that robbery operation and that is why they are taking such a
brazen attack on the Police Service so lightly.
“Of course, we are not pointing any fingers at PC Jeffers,
since he may have been as innocent as Omah and is now just scared
stiff and that is why he may be running from us.
“It is bigger than most of us think, otherwise why would the
bandits have gone so well prepared with a hand grenade,” the
relative speculated.
“But we are left to wonder if they are discriminating against
us because we are from a poor family and do not have the resources
to take any course of action through the courts.
“Imagine, Junior National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds,
promised that Omah’s wife and children will get a home, but
nobody has made any approaches since.
“The Police Service even promised counselling for Omah’s
relatives including his distressed mother, who is still grieving
for her eldest son, but all that has been one set of lyrics.
“Even Corporal Cedric Neptune, President of the Police Second
Division, Social and Welfare had promised that the children would
be taken care of until they are 18 years old.
“That also, is just one set of lyrics.
“It’s no wonder the country is in this state; the police
do not even care about their own who are attacked, far more for
the rest of innocent citizens.”
A senior police officer is insisting that they have wrapped up their
investigations into the murder of PC Omah Maharaj.
“The file has been sent to the Arima Court,” Senior
Superintendent Ghany told Mirror last Thursday afternoon.
Does that mean the investigation is closed?
“Yes,” Ghany responded, adding “we interviewed
all the police officers who were at the scene, including PC Jeffers
and the people who worked at JSL SpeedPak.
“All we have to do is wait for a date for the inquest, now.”
Mirror was referred to Ghany by Assistant Commissioner in charge
of Crime, Oswyn Allard.
Allard himself shrugged off suggestions that there may be a police
cover-up.
And Senior Supt. Ghany was quick to note that the cops had assisted
the common-law wife of PC Maharaj.
But then he realised that no one was able to get into contact with
her when they went to her previous residence where she lived with
Omah, at Tacarigua.
She has since relocated, mostly because she was unable to keep on
paying the rent.
But Ghany said the Northern Division had prepared a hamper for the
family and was ready to deliver it two weeks ago.
By Thursday afternoon, he was still trying to make contact with
the constable’s family. |
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