Registe caught Malik sleeping in Guyana

THE LATE Assistant Commissioner of Police, Norton Registe, was the man who went to Guyana in 1971 and brought back fugitive Abdul Malik, who was wanted for the murders of English socialite Gale Ann Benson and Belmont barber, Joseph Skerritt. Registe, who died last Saturday from renal failure, was a sergeant attached to the Special Branch in 1971 when he and a constable were sent to Guyana to search for Malik. Malik became a wanted man after a mysterious fire engulfed the house in which he was staying at Christina Gardens in Arima. While firemen and police investigators were at the scene of the fire, they discovered a relaid garden in Malik’s back yard.

When it was dug up, the bodies of Benson and Skerritt were found. Immigration records showed that Malik had gone to Guyana. At the request of the Guyana Police Force, the then Commissioner of Police Eustace Bernard sent Registe and another officer from the Special Branch in search of the wanted fugitive. Why a Special Branch team? Registe considered a top investigator, was therefore sent. It was Registe who found Malik sleeping in a shack in the forest in Guyana and promptly brought him back to Trinidad. That was the beginning of the uphill climb for Registe, who retired in 2000 as Assistant Commissioner. Registe was the man who arrested Government Minister Dhanraj Singh on April 22, 1997 on the Uriah Butler Highway, Chaguanas.

Registe and other policemen were on traffic duty on the highway when they observed a Local Government Ministry vehicle proceeding on the shoulder. When it was stopped, Registe observed the driver was the minister himself. A confrontation took place aftr which Dhanraj Singh was arrested and taken to the Chaguanas Police Station where he was later charged with offences including driving the Government vehicle in a dangerous manner, and failing to produce a certificate of insurance. Registe was the only executive member of the Police Service to be seen at peak times on the highways directing traffic. Dressed in full uniform, Registe stood in the middle of the intersection at Grand Bazaar and directed traffic. He used to go out with junior officers on patrol. As Head of the Traffic Branch, Registe did not remain at his desk. He wanted to be part of the action.

When the trial of Dole Chadee and eight members of his gang started at the Chaguaramas High Court on June 10, 1996, Registe was there, giving everyone, including members of the media, a very difficult time. To show that the man held no grudges against anyone, however, he made an about-face approach and facilitated photographers in getting pictures of the guilty accused persons on the final day of the trial on September 3, 1996. His ambition was to become a lawyer, but he never made it to the Hugh Wooding Law School for his final journey. When he retired, he became a member of the security unit at the Ministry of the Attorney General under the then AG, Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj. Up until his death on Saturday, Registe was still working at the AG’s office.