HGP NIGHTLY NEWS – Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed has been arrested over allegations that GY$800,000 was paid to a police constable in exchange for confidential government surveillance footage connected to the controversial October 12 shooting.
Mohamed was arrested at Eccles on the East Bank of Demerara as police widen their investigation into how recordings from the Government’s Safe Country surveillance system were allegedly obtained and disclosed.
The arrest follows the detention of a 20-year-old police constable attached to the Guyana Police Force Command Centre.
Nightly News understands that investigators allege the rank received GY$800,000 in exchange for providing the surveillance footage.
Sources familiar with the investigation say the constable allegedly made admissions during a video-recorded interview and in a written statement obtained by investigators following his arrest on Monday.
The precise circumstances surrounding those alleged admissions, including whether they were made in the presence of an attorney, are not immediately clear.
Police are now investigating allegations that Mohamed was connected to the payment.
The surveillance footage at the centre of the investigation captured portions of the October 12 encounter involving Mohamed and Head of Special Branch, Senior Superintendent Prem Narine.
Mohamed subsequently released footage publicly as he challenged the police account of that night and maintained that the incident amounted to an attempt on his life.
His arrest now opens a separate investigation into how that footage allegedly moved from a government surveillance system into his possession.
The allegations against Mohamed and the police constable have not been proven in court. An arrest does not amount to a finding of guilt, and it remains unclear what specific charges, if any, investigators intend to recommend against the Opposition Leader.
