The Guyana Defence Force (GDF) yesterday placed a lance corporal under close arrest for breaching army regulations by allowing four soldiers in his care to abscond.
On Wednesday, four privates, three of whom were recently embroiled in a probe into the theft and sale of high-powered weapons from the army, were reported missing from GDF headquarters, Camp Ayanganna.
At the time, they were being guarded by the lance corporal and should have been in a locked cell. To date, the army has not stated how the ranks were able to leave the closely guarded military base.
But information coming out of the army's public relations department yesterday stated that the "lance corporal was found to have breached the standard operations procedures with regard to the soldiers under sentence and he himself is under close arrest."
The detained soldiers were reportedly kept in a locked cell, leaving their confinement only when chores were assigned to them, when they took their meals, or for the nightly staff parades when all ranks were expected to be present. But on all occasions, the ranks were expected to be escorted by their guard.
In the meantime, the army said that there were no new leads as to the whereabouts of the absent ranks. Public Relations Officer, Major Hubert Meusa said further checks revealed that the missing soldiers were not at their homes.
Stabroek News understands that the ranks were present at a staff parade on Tuesday night, where a head count was taken, but were discovered gone on Wednesday shortly after the 5:30 am flag-raising ceremony at Camp Ayanganna. An investigation was immediately launched to determine who was responsible for the ranks at the time and when and how they left.
Checks at their homes on Wednesday night had revealed that two of them had packed their clothes and left for an unknown destination.
The army said on Thursday that it was treating the breach in security as serious. Further, the GDF embarked on a review of its system so as to ensure that all regulations were strictly enforced.
Apart from the four soldiers, several businessmen, too, were fingered in the arms racket.
Since it was uncovered early last month, six civilians and two foreigners were nabbed during joint police/army operations, which were conducted mainly in Corentyne, Berbice.
Three of the businessmen arrested have since been placed before the courts as efforts continue to locate the two missing weapons - an AK-47 and an M70 assault rifle.
The soldiers who were being detained in the probe were expected to be either court-martialled, or handed over to the police. Two of them had subsequently agreed to turn state's evidence.
The question many were asking yesterday was why had the army taken so long to decide the fate of the detained ranks, while the civilians fingered in the probe were quickly handed over to the police and charged?
The army had launched a probe early last month after an AK-47 was found in a black plastic bag under a bed at the Ruimveldt Coast Guard base in Georgetown. Subsequent checks in the arms room revealed that another AK-47 and two M70 rifles were missing.
One of the two missing M70s was reportedly found in the possession of one of the soldiers.