Devant questions police conduct

FORMER government minister Devant Maharaj is questioning the conduct of the police in the recovery of the cellphone belonging to the son of Finance Minister Colm Imbert .

In a media statement, while he commended the police for their alacrity in finding the cellphone, Maharaj asked why the same enthusiasm is not used when ordinary citizens are victims of crime.

He said the population can take comfort in knowing that the police have the ability and capacity to solve crimes against people in a timely and effective manner, and the recovery of the cellphone was an impressive feat of criminal detection.

On Friday last, Adrian Imbert was driving his white Hilux pickup along the Eastern Main Road, Laventille when he was held up and robbed of his $5,000 cellphone and his wallet.

Immediately after the robbery several areas in Beetham were searched.

On Monday police locked down several parts of Beetham Gardens and found the phone in a house there.

Maharaj is also taking issue with the fact that police from at least two elite units dealing with gathering data for national security purposes were involved in the investigations.

He claimed there was a public outcry against this apparent bias on the part of the government, as no similar enthusiasm is displayed when crimes are committed against average citizens.

He cited the case of young mother Ria Sookdeo, who was kidnapped a year ago,but no elite units of the police were deployed.

Maharaj is questioning whether the police are only moved to act effectively when a minister of government is affected by crime.