Hicken turns to AG Chambers on rape accused Karimbaksh matter- Nandlall confirms

October 19, 2026

Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall on Tuesday evening confirmed that Commissioner of Police Clifton Hicken has reached out to the Attorney General Chambers to seek legal guidance on the way forward in dealing with rape-accused Deputy Commissioner of Police Fizal Karimbaksh.

Hicken was slapped with two separate letters by legal representatives for Fizal Karimbaksh after he wrote Karimbaksh ordering him to proceed on Leave in light of the rape and threats reports which were made against him, and an instruction barring Karimbaksh from showing up at his assigned office at SOCU to work. In both letters, Hicken was told that his actions were unlawful and would be challenged if his letter and subsequent verbal instruction to Karimbaksh remain in effect. The Top Cop then recinded the letter which was issued to Karimbaksh, and we were also able to confirm that Karimbaksh has since been showing up for work at his SOCU office.

Notwithstanding, however, the Legal Affairs Minister pointed out that he transferred the Commissioner of Police’s request for legal guidance over to the Solicitor General Nigel Hawke.

Asked the reason for such, Nandlall said while the state was working on the Anti-money Laundering (AML) and Countering Financing of Terrorism (CFT) platforms, Fizal Karimbaksh was one of the officers who were part of the team.

Nandlall further stated that as head of the Special Organised Crime Unit, the rape accused also sits as a member of the National Coordinating Committee for Anti-money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism, which is chaired by the Attorney General.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Fizal Karimbaksh has been accused of three counts of rape by a policewoman who made a formal police report against him with the Guyana Police Force Criminal Investigation Department. The policewoman also spoke of threats to her life, which she said Karimbaksh made towards her by placing a gun to her head and threatening to shoot and kill her.

Calls have been mounting for Karimbaksh to be kicked off the job in light of the allegation and for an investigation which is ongoing, to be done in an environment free of fear and intimidation.

Those calls have been falling on deaf ears, but they continue to be made, nevertheless. Wednesday, October 21, will be 31 days since the victim approached the Minister of Home Affairs, where she detailed the account of rape and death threats committed against her.