Azruddin Mohamed says he will pursue private charges over Kitty shooting

Guyana opposition leader Azruddin Mohamed says he intends to bring private criminal charges against Special Branch head Prem Narine over a shooting in Kitty. At a press conference, Mohamed presented surveillance footage and maintained that the October 12 incident was an attempt on his life. According to News Source Guyana, Mohamed said the footage came from the police Special Branch unit and showed Narine and other officers getting out of a police vehicle near the junction of Vlissengen Road and Sandy Babb Street. The recording had no audio. Mohamed alleged that Narine fired at the car he was travelling in while it was stopped at a traffic light. Mohamed disputed the police account, which said Narine had fired several rounds at a heavily tinted vehicle after it passed his home on Barr Street, Kitty. He claimed two shots struck the right side of his vehicle and said another was fired after he raised his hands. He characterized the incident as an attempt to kill him, allegations that the report attributes to him and that are not independently established in the account. The episode has also led to charges against Mohamed and two members of his staff. They are accused of unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition and attempting to pervert the course of justice; all three have denied those allegations. Mohamed further alleged that officers kicked and stomped on him while he was on the ground. He said he plans to press charges against Narine and expressed hope that the Director of Public Prosecutions would not dismiss them. The report describes sharply conflicting accounts of the encounter, with Mohamed’s planned legal action now adding another step to an already contentious case.