Personal case notes were shredded and burnt- Senior Superintendent Prem Narine
September 9 2026
Senior Superintendent of Police and Head of Special Branch, Prem Narine, admitted under cross-examination to machine-shredding and burning operational notes surrounding the arrest of Leader of the Opposition Azruddin Mohamed and his father Nazar Mohamed.
This was revealed when defense counsel Siand Dhurjon pressed Senior Superintendent Narine on the documentation of the October 31, 2025, arrest of the father-and-son duo on U.S. extradition warrants for alleged conspiracy to commit money laundering and other offenses in violation of the laws of the United States of America.
Defense counsel Siand Dhurjon made an application for Entry 13 of the Guyana Police Force Regional Division 4A, Brickdam Police Station Diary to be shown to the witness and tendered into evidence. Prosecutor Herbert McKenzie indicated no objections, and the entry was copied, tendered, and marked as Exhibit 1.
Reading from the entry, Senior Superintendent Narine confirmed that the entry recorded that both suspects were arrested on arrest warrants issued by Magistrate Judy Latchman on October 31, 2025, at 11:35 hours. The log explicitly noted that the suspects made no allegations against the arresting team, showed no marks of violence on exposed parts of their bodies, and subsequently refused to sign the entry.
Under cross-examination by Dhurjon, Narine acknowledged omissions in the official station diary with no record was made in Entry 13 regarding the filing or transmittal of court documents that morning, nor of the defendants being moved to court or taken elsewhere while in police custody.
Narine admitted permitting U.S. Marshal Sandy Rao to speak privately with the suspects, within his line of sight but out of hearing range, without any Guyanese law enforcement officer witnessing or participating in the conversation.
Narine further verified that this interaction with U.S. Marshal Rao was completely omitted from Entry 13, absent from all station diaries, and not included in his formal police statement.
When questioned about where these interactions and operational movements were logged, Narine stated he had noted them in one of three personal books. He then revealed that he personally destroyed those books in early January 2026.
Under questioning regarding the destruction, Narine detailed the process, he confirmed he machine-shredded the books himself. When the court questioned the relevance, Dhurjon explained it went to show the depth to which the witness went to destroy the record.
Narine then testified that he took the shredded papers to an area inside the Special Branch compound on Barrack Street, next to a condemned furnace, and set them on fire.
Narine then testified, “I kept them in my vision until I was satisfied that they were completely destroyed and useless.” When Dhurjon put to him that the records were destroyed “until the records turned to dust,” Narine responded, “You can say that, yes.”
Dhurjon put it directly to Narine that he had shredded and burnt the true operational record of the day’s events because it contained details absent from both the station diary and his official police statement. Narine rejected the suggestion.
When asked if any written policy or standing order required the burning of such records, Narine invoked confidentiality protocols, “As a result of me being a signatory to the Secrets Act of Guyana, anything I consider that is a secret, and for it to remain that way, I destroy it.”
When Dhurjon challenged that “there is no such act as a Secrets Act” and asked whether Narine was referring to the Official Secrets Act of 1911 or an internal police document, Narine declined to answer directly, stating, “I will have to get legal advice to know if to venture into anything about the Secret Act.”
Following an application by Dhurjon for disclosure of the legal document or authority upon which the witness acted to destroy his reports, cross-examination was deferred.
Magistrate Judy Latchman fixed September 21, 22, 28, and 29 as the continuation dates for the matter.
