Home Affairs Minister Ronald Gajraj yesterday confirmed that the laptop computer seized from the three men arrested on December 4, at Good Hope East Coast Demerara, was in the custody of the security forces. He said that he expected that it was being used for its intended purpose.
He told Stabroek News too that the police were conducting investigations into the activities and were any illegality to be uncovered they would be prosecuted, no matter who was involved.
Gajraj also questioned the existence of a "phantom squad" saying that there was as yet no evidence linking the murders in one area with those in another but conceded that there were persons capitalising on the present situation to carry out their own nefarious activities.
Gajraj stressed that as Minister, he does not condone the creation of a "Frankenstein" to deal with the present upsurge of violent crimes as the ends did not justify the means.
The Minister dismissed reports that he had instructed that the three men not be charged, saying he had insisted that a proper investigation be done before the men were placed before the courts. He insisted that this was not the time as in the past when the security forces "fitted" people for offences for which they were before the courts.
Asked if enquiries were being conducted as to how the computer came to be in the possession of the persons from whom it was seized, Gajraj observed that if its possession was not illegal then there was no need for an inquiry. He also observed when told that information on the Internet suggests that the software installed in the computer was for sale only to governments and security forces then the inquiries should be directed to those firms listed on the website.
In relation to the vehicle in which the arms and ammunition were found and for which the men had been charged, he said that once it was properly imported then legally it should be returned to its owner.