Woman goes to court over police probe 5 years after home robbed, torched

A WOMAN from Freeport, whose house was broken into, robbed, and then burned down in 2019, wants a judicial review of how her requests for updates on the police probe have been dealt with.

Attorney Anju Ramkissoon filed documents on August 28 in the High Court in Port of Spain on behalf of the applicant, Kamal Seunarine of Calcutta Road No Two.

The ex-parte application for leave to apply for the review is to challenge the failure and/or refusal of the Commissioner of Police (CoP) to render a decision on Seunarine's request on March 11 this year for official information under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

The application says on March 11, 2019, Seunarine's home was broken into, robbed and set on fire.

No one was home. The entire house and all its contents were burned to the ground. Her two dogs were killed, as they were trapped inside the burning house.

The house had been soaked in gas and then set ablaze.

The court documents say the incident financially crippled and emotionally traumatised Seunarine for years, as she lost everything she had ever known and worked for in the span of one night.

On December 15, 2019, in a seemingly unrelated incident, four men robbed a nearby supermarket. They robbed several people of cash and valuables and stole an office safe containing $30,000, US$4,000 and a quantity of cigarettes before leaving in a car.

Days later, Sangre Grande police arrested several suspects for the supermarket robbery.

They also recovered items that had been stolen in a series of crimes.

Sangre Grande and Freeport police later told Seunarine that among the stolen items were some from her home. She identified and recovered her TV, microwave, printer and gas tank.

One of the arrested men confessed that a resident (who was named) had paid them $10,000 to burn down Seunarine's house.

The court documents say the police assured her a full investigation would be done into the burning-down of her house.

In February 2020, Seunarine went to a hospital in New York for quadruple bypass surgery.

Before leaving, she visited the police station to find out the status of the matter and learnt no action had been taken against the man.

Six months later, still in the US, when she called a policeman for an update, he said he was on interim leave and she had no right to contact him.

From then to now, she has tried multiple times to follow up with the police.

She also made two complaints to the Police Complaints Authority (PCA), in 2020 and 2021.

A letter dated October 25, 2022, from PCA deputy director Michelle Solomon-Baksh said after the information had been assessed, the matter was referred to the CoP.

On March 11, 2024, Seunarine made the FOIA request seeking access to a copy of the policy, practice, procedure, and criteria of the police that must be followed when complaints or reports of larceny and/or burglary and/or arson and/or bribery are made.

She also wants to know what steps, if any, have been taken to date by the police since her home was destroyed.

She also enquired about the time limit within which the police are required to lay a charge for a complaint of larceny and/or burglary and/or arson and/or bribery.

She also wants to find out about what steps the CoP has taken on the PCA complaint referred to the CoP.

The court documents said the leave application was based on several grounds.They include the failure to satisfy or observe conditions of procedures required by law, unreasonable, irregular, or improper exercise of discretion, and conflict with the policy of the FOIA.

Seunarine's attorney also cited grounds such as a breach or omission to perform a duty, unreasonable delay, unauthorised or contrary to law, and depriving the applicant of a legitimate expectation.

Another ground is that the police actions amount to an abuse of power and/or the exercise of power in a manner that was so unreasonable that no public authority could have exercised that power.