Guapo man, 35, charged with killing cop

Police investigators have been given the go-ahead to charge the 35-year-old suspect from Guapo with the murder of PC Krishna Banahar, who was shot in the line of duty early on November 6.

The suspect, Mwanza Joseph, is expected to face a master in the South Criminal High Court on November 13.

He was also charged with having a gun and ammunition.

His brother, Al Hakim Joseph, 44, a scrap iron dealer, was also fatally shot in the same incident, which happened near the family’s home at St Rose Street in Guapo, on the outskirts of Point Fortin.

On November 12, ACP for South/Central Wayne Mystar confirmed that deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Sabrina Dougdeen-Jaglal instructed the police to lay the charges after reviewing a file sent by investigators.

ASP Maharaj laid the charges under the guidance of Supt Persad and Sgt Bridgemohan, all of the Homicide Bureau of Investigations, Region Three.

Banahar, of Mon Desir in Fyzabad, had four years of service and was last based at the Siparia CID.

The policeman and other officers from the South Western Division were on an exercise at the Joseph family’s home before dawn on November 6, when Banahar and the self-employed businessmen were shot.

They were pronounced dead at the Point Fortin Hospital, shortly after.

The police said they found a Glock pistol and arrested the suspect.

On November 9, Banahar’s funeral took place at the family’s home and then at the Shore of Peace (Mosquito Creek) Cremation site in La Romaine.

Commissioner of Police Erla Harewood-Christopher, National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds, Mystar, and head of the South Western Division, Supt Edmund Cumberbatch, were among the mourners.