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Aranguez residents look at a video of a man hitting a caiman with a pice of metal on the Southern Main Road, Aranguez on Friday as Newsday reporter Shane Superville, right, looks on. – AYANNA KINSALE

Aranguez residents said they were upset that a large caiman was beaten to death in the area on Thursday.

A video of the caiman swimming in floodwater at the corner of the Aranguez Main Road and Sookia Trace, was circulated on WhatsApp.

Another video showed a man holding the animal against a fence while another man beat it.

The video stirred condemnation from social media users.

Newsday visited the area where the caiman was killed and spoke with residents and workers in the area who recalled the incident.

Azim Rahim, aka “Mitchy,” said he helped pull the caiman out of a nearby Lotto booth, but did not kill the animal.

He said the caiman tried to bite him while he tried to pull it out of the booth, but he was unharmed.

“I didn’t kill it, but it went inside the (Lotto) booth. A woman was inside there and it tried to bite her, so those boys in the area held it and they killed it.

“I don’t know who the person is that did that.

“I saw there was a lot of water and it wanted to bite me and all ,but I pulled away.

“The woman just went to play her mark and she started to bawl and thing, so when I pulled it out I just let it cross the road.”

Azim Rahim shows Newsday reporter Shane Superville on Friday, where he was almost bitten by a caiman on the Southern Main Road in Aranguez, on Thursday. – AYANNA KINSALE

Asked why the men didn’t try to subdue the animal without hurting it, Rahim said it tried to attack them repeatedly while they were trying to lure it away and felt they had no choice.

“They couldn’t catch it without harming it. It wanted to bite, so they lasso it and killed it.”

One man said he heard of the incident and was upset the men involved did not find another way to capture the caiman and then release it.

“I plant crops and stuff not too far from here, and there’s a lot of them that come out some days, and I just leave them alone.

“I don’t see what the point was to kill the animal…it was totally unnecessary.”

Newsday also spoke to Celina Singh, who runs the Lotto booth where the caiman was found. She said she was also upset at the way the men attacked the creature.

She said she had been in no immediate danger, and hoped it could have been captured without hurting it.

Contacted for comment, a police officer in the North Eastern Division said he did not have much information on what happened, so there would be further enquiry by the police.

He said there were laws in place to prevent cruelty against animals and once evidence of wrongdoing was found, those involved could face criminal charges.

“It’s a kind of callous, inhumane behaviour. There may be people who think that it might be a joke, but it’s not.

“If it is we have the laws that govern how animals should be treated, and there are breaches, then certainly, coming out of the video there is only so much we can gather and in terms of hardcore evidence.

“(But) once we have laws in place and there are breaches those involved will face the consequences.”

Asked what the public should do when faced with wild animals in urban areas, the officer suggested they call the zoo or any agency prepared to take the animal.

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Former police commissioner Gary Griffith. FILE PHOTO –

ACTING Police Commissioner Mc Donald Jacob is denying allegations by his predecessor that he (Jacob) appointed a junior officer to investigate Gary Griffith on orders from the political directorate.

In a telephone interview with Newsday on Friday, Jacob said he is not aware of any police investigation against Griffith who is the immediate former police commissioner.

Griffith wrote to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), the Police Service Commission (PSC), the Police Complaints Authority (PCA), and the Professional Standards Bureau (PSB) calling for these entities to investigate how a selected police constable was investigating him, and other issues which he found troubling.

The letters asked that the Prime Minister be questioned to determine if any junior police officer met with senior Government officials in the Diplomatic Centre or the PM’s Residence in relation to an investigation where he (Griffith) is the subject.

Griffith is asking that investigators determine from Jacob, if the head of the PSB is being bypassed and whether Jacob is liaising with the junior officer in order to expedite charges against Griffith.

Griffith also wants former members of the PSC to be interviewed to ascertain if then chairman Bliss Seepersad suspended him without approval of the other PSC members; if the past PSC failed to re-appoint Griffith as directed; and whether that PSC board received selected names to investigate, from a politician.

“A clandestine unit (has been) appointed to meet to see if anything can be found to have me arrested. My reliable sources within the TTPS have revealed that there is a unit, established for several months, assigned to do nothing other than to come to work daily and see what they can trump up, contrive or package to have me arrested as directed, regardless of whether the charges can hold, as the intention is to specifically to smear my character for political benefit,” Griffith claimed in his letters.

In response to the claims Jacob told Newsday that the police service does not operate in the way Griffith is alleging.

“Maybe that is how it was when he was there, but the PSB is headed by a senior superintendent and an investigation happened without her knowledge? He feels the police service is some parlour in Maraval?

“There are several investigations ongoing by the PSB with contributions from other units because we have a multi-unit approach now,” Jacob said.

Newsday contacted the junior officer named by Griffith as being the one leading investigations on behalf of politicians. She flatly denied his allegations.

“I am a duly appointed police officer and investigations are part of my duty. Anything further will have to come from the police service corporate communications,” the officer said.

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Tekst en beeld Valerie Fris PARAMARIBO— “Een getergd volk is een niet te stoppen volk, daar geloof ik heilig in.

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Tropical Storm Fiona Advisory 11:

Fiona a Little Stronger. Heavy Rains and Tropical Storm Conditions Continue Across Portions of the Northern Leeward Islands.

At 1100 PM AST (0300 UTC), the center of Tropical Storm Fiona was located near latitude 16.6 North, longitude 62.2 West.

Fiona is moving toward the west near 14 mph (22 km/h). A westward to west-northwestward motion with a decrease in forward speed is expected through Sunday night.  A turn toward the northwest is forecast on Monday.

On the forecast track, the center of Fiona is expected to move near or just south of the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico Saturday into Sunday, and approach the southern or eastern coast of the Dominican Republic Sunday afternoon.

Fiona is forecast to move across the Dominican Republic Sunday night and Monday.

Data from an Air Force Hurricane Hunter aircraft indicate that the maximum sustained winds have increased to near 60 mph (95 km/h) with higher gusts.

Gradual strengthening is forecast, and Fiona could be near hurricane strength when it reaches the Dominican Republic on Sunday.

Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 140 miles (220 km) from the center.  A wind gust of 44 mph (70 km/h) was recently reported at VC Bird International Airport in Antigua.

The estimated minimum central pressure is 1002 mb (29.59 inches).

Tropical storm conditions will continue across portions of  the Leeward Islands within the warning area through Saturday  afternoon.

Tropical storm conditions will spread westward to the  U.S. and British Virgin Islands Saturday morning, and across Puerto  Rico Saturday afternoon and Saturday night, and across portions of the Dominican Republic early Sunday.

Tropical storm conditions are  possible on Dominica during the next several hours and across the  watch area in the Dominican Republic beginning Sunday afternoon.

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