Charge teacher and businessman for Chandra’s murder

After spending three days and two nights in police custody, a 44-year-old Caroni schoolteacher and a San Fernando businessman were both charged yesterday evening with the 1994 murder of Dr Chandra Naraynsingh. The two were kept overnight in cells at the Central Police Station, and will appear before a Port-of-Spain magistrate at 9 am today. The charges were laid by ASP Nadir Khan of the Homicide Bureau. Around 5.30 pm yesterday, Snr Supt Hiyadath “Dyo” Mohammed and ASP Nadir Khan sought directions from DPP Geoffrey Henderson who gave instructions that they be charged after a successful ID parade. The third suspect in custody, a man, was whisked away by his attorney, Rangee Dolsingh in a car.

The car was driven inside the old police headquarters around 6 pm, and the suspect got into the vehicle which sped away. Shortly after, attorneys Prakash Ramadhar, Larry Lalla and Rajiv Persad emerged from the CID headquarters and said they had no comment to make. The identification parade for the third suspect was aborted until late yesterday after objections raised by attorneys about the suitability of the persons chosen for the parade. The suspect will return to the Homicide Bureau at 2 pm today for another identification parade. Senior police officers told Newsday that this would give them enough time to locate persons for the ID parade. The officers said they had difficulty yesterday in getting persons fitting the description of the third suspect to appear before the ID parade.

When the case against the two accused is heard before a Port-of-Spain magistrate today, the  matter is expected to be adjourned for the next hearing at the San Fernando Magistrates’ Court. Yesterday, around 1 pm, the third suspect in the investigation returned to the Homicide Bureau after being allowed to leave on Tuesday night by senior police officers. That suspect was detained on Monday night in a dramatic police operation at the Piarco International Airport. He was whisked away that night to the Homicide Bureau for questioning about the murder of Dr Chandra Naraynsingh. Naraynsingh, 38, was shot dead while sitting in her car outside the Langmore Health Foundation on June 29, 1994. Hitman Sean Parris was identified days after the killing but it was discovered that he had fled the country and was hiding in the United States.

The police issued pictures of Parris to the media but later recalled those photos. A warrant was issued for the arrest of Parris and Interpol in Trinidad started working closely with the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) in the United States. Parris was held in the US and extradited to Trinidad in 2000. He was charged with murder and went through the preliminary inquiry at the San Fernando Magistrates’ Court. He was committed to stand trial for murder. In his statement to the police, Parris identified the persons who conspired with him to kill Naraynsingh. He later pleaded guilty to a lesser count of manslaughter in February this year and was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole before the expiration of 30 years.