By Leroy Smith
Police Commissioner (ag)David Ramnarine Friday afternoon said he was bombarded with calls from members of society who sought to influence what action should be taken against the former head of the SWAT Unit, Motie Dookie, after he allegedly smuggled 30 cases of Johnny Walker Whiskey.
‘‘…I received over a dozen calls from supposedly right-thinking people who were concerned about when the man would be released and ‘why yall don’t give the man a break’ and all kind of lawlessness they were telling me, believe it or leave it,” Ramnarine told a news conference at Police Headquarters, Eve Leary.
‘’That is the society we have.
‘’On the one hand, they want to see a professional Police Force – they want a Police Force that delivers a higher or a better quality of service – but at the same time, they are indifferent to gross wrongdoings.
‘’That is the reality of the society we live in comrade,” he added.
Dookie was held on December 30, 2017, with a quantity of smuggled whiskey. He claimed to have no knowledge of the beverage and asserted that he was only a passenger in the vehicle that the smuggled items were in.
The matter remains under investigation by the police and the Guyana Revenue Authority.
Ramnarine was asked to explain the circumstances surrounding Dookie leaving the confines of the Police environment hours after he was detained for questioning.
‘’In fact, when I got that report that night I contacted his commanding officer and I was assured that that officer was on his own.
‘’He was on his own…doing his own thing, doing whatever he was doing.
‘’I don’t think he was able to go home; this is not a junior rank. So if there is any feeling that because he was a senior rank some level of privilege may have been afforded to him I would not want to down that road.
“At the rank that he holds it would not have been uncommon or totally improper for him to leave the barracks room for a few hours.
‘’But he did return very early the morning and I would have believed that it would have been totally impossible for him to leave B Division to go all the way to Georgetown or to West Demerara where he lives and to return to the station for that time.
‘’So when I got the call, I said ok, no problem in that.
‘’He should now be concerned based on the statement that I have seen in the press where it appears that his personal file is in the press, in the public domain; he should be concerned,’’ Ramnarine stated.
The News Room previously reported that the SWAT Unit is being headed by Assistant Superintendent Amit Das, who is the son of another senior police officer.
Dookie was transferred to the Strategic Planning Unit of the Guyana Police Force.
