By Travis Chase | HGP Nightly News|
GEORGETOWN, GUYANA — A tense hours-long standoff between Joint Services ranks, Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed, and parliamentarians from We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) unfolded late Tuesday night into early Wednesday morning after a vessel belonging to the Mohamed family was intercepted at Friendship, East Bank Demerara.
The encounter culminated with the vessel and several opposition MPs being escorted under armed guard to the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Coast Guard Headquarters at Ruimveldt, Georgetown. The confrontation escalated further with the arrest of WIN Member of Parliament Natasha Singh-Lewis for alleged unlawful possession of a firearm belonging to a parliamentary colleague.
Midnight River Interception and Disputed Accounts
According to official statements from the Guyana Police Force (GPF), the operation commenced around 9:45 PM on Tuesday when a joint maritime patrol spotted a “go-fast” vessel entering the Demerara River at high speed:
- Police Account: Authorities alleged the vessel refused to comply with visual and audible signals to stop, prompting a maritime pursuit that concluded at a private wharf in Friendship. Police stated Mohamed and two individuals were aboard when ranks arrived, while five others were on the wharf.
- Opposition Rebuttal: Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed and WIN General Secretary Odessa Primus rejected the pursuit narrative during live social media broadcasts, asserting that the vessel had already completed its docking maneuvers before Joint Services ranks converged on the property.
WIN officials offered to unlock all compartments for an immediate on-site search at Friendship, but ranks proceeded to impound and escort the vessel to Coast Guard Headquarters under suspicion of carrying illicit cargo.
North West District Mission Preceded Interception
The interception occurred just hours after Mohamed and a WIN parliamentary delegation returned from the North West District in Region One.
The team had spent the day conducting field visits and engaging with survivors and bereaved relatives of the July 18 M.V. Barima tragedy as part of the party’s ongoing Humanitarian Emergency Relief Operation (HERO).
Arrest of WIN MP Natasha Singh-Lewis
The standoff took a legal turn when police detained WIN Member of Parliament Natasha Singh-Lewis outside the compound:
- Discovery of Firearm: Police stopped Singh-Lewis as she attempted to exit the location in her private vehicle. A subsequent search uncovered a handgun and matching ammunition inside the vehicle.
- Explanation of Ownership: The Opposition Leader explained that the weapon is legally registered and licensed to fellow parliamentarian Dawn Hastings-Williams, who had left her personal bag in Singh-Lewis’s vehicle before boarding the vessel during the confusion of the standoff.
- Custody: MP Singh-Lewis was placed under arrest and taken into custody at the Farm Police Station on the East Bank of Demerara pending legal advice.
