After a week of controversy surrounding his reported destruction of his personal diary and two notebooks containing critical information regarding his handling of the Mohameds’ extradition case, Head of the Special Branch Unit of the Guyana Police Force, Senior Superintendent Prem Narine, today told the Court that the books “shredded” and “burnt” earlier in January contained “notes” and not “records,” and had no “pertinent” information.
As he stood in the witness box for another day under cross-examination by Attorney-at-Law Siand Dhurjon in the ongoing extradition case involving U.S.-indicted businessmen Azruddin and Nazar Mohamed, the Senior Superintendent said the destroyed notes could not have been saved.
“The notes could not be saved because I didn’t consider that it reached the threshold of saving,” Narine told the Court as he was being grilled by Dhurjon.
According to him, he was authorized to destroy the documents, not based on the instructions of anyone, but in keeping with a declaration he swore to that is grounded in the Official Secrets Act.
The Court heard that, at the time he destroyed his personal diary and the two notebooks, Narine knew that he would have been a material witness in the matter and would have been required to testify in Court.
Contrary to his earlier testimony that the destroyed documents contained information that was not captured in the official station diary, including a meeting between the Mohameds and a United States (U.S.) Marshal following their arrest, Narine today told the Court that the destroyed documents did not contain “pertinent” information regarding the arrest of the Mohameds.
Questioned whether he had informed the Police Legal Advisor or the Prosecution about his action, the Senior Superintendent responded in the negative.
“Did you tell them you destroyed the books prior to saying so in Court?” Dhurjon questioned, with Narine again responding in the negative.
According to Narine, he “transcribed” the information from the now-destroyed books into another document but did not “photocopy” or “photograph” the notes.
He said the information was written on the back of the arrest warrants. But Dhurjon pointed out that the arrest warrants had no information on U.S. Marshal Sandy Rao’s interaction with the Mohameds following their arrest or Narine’s visit to the Attorney General’s Chambers on the morning of October 31, 2025.
Narine: “That is correct.”
Dhurjon: “Those are things you wrote in the books you destroyed?”
Narine: “I did not say that.”
But as Narine was confronted with his earlier testimony, he sought to clarify.
“I said I might or may have written that information in books but I now say, I did not write that information in books,” Narine said as he sought to clarify his earlier statements.
He, however, admitted that the time regarding his visit to the Attorney General’s Chambers was indeed written in one of the now-destroyed books.
Asked whether he was prepared to tell the Court the official secrets that caused him to destroy the books, Narine told the Court that while he could disclose certain information, he could not disclose other information.
He will return to the witness box tomorrow for another day of cross-examination.
Source: News Source Guyana
