Senior Superintendent Prem Narine told the court on Tuesday that police intelligence linking Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed to alleged killings dates back to around 2011.
Narine, Head of the Guyana Police Force Special Branch, was being cross-examined in the extradition case involving Mohamed and his father, businessman Nazar Mohamed, when the defence questioned him about information he said contributed to his assessment that Mohamed is a national-security threat.
Narine said he first came across the information while working with the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) at Diamond Police Station. He said further information came to light around 2020 or 2021, following a boat explosion in which three people reportedly died.
According to Narine, police had information concerning six people allegedly killed in what he described as "execution-style" killings, with statements taken in relation to three of the alleged murders. When defence attorney Siand Dhurjon asked him about the contents of the statements, Narine said he could not recall them.
Narine told the court he was not present during any of the alleged killings. Questioned by the defence on how the information reached him, he said it came from sources within the police force, and that officers involved in the information channel were aware of it.
Narine acknowledged that Mohamed was not arrested during investigations into the alleged killings, and confirmed that no charges had been brought against him in connection with the alleged murders or other allegations raised during questioning, including torture, bribery, execution-style killings and the alleged beating of employees. He said he was not aware of any court finding against Mohamed in relation to those allegations.
Despite this, Narine maintained that the information available to him supported his assessment that Mohamed posed a national-security threat.
The case has been adjourned for continuation on September 28.