Cops warn Muslim group

AN IMAM was warned by the police yesterday after he and a group of about 15 went to a property at Paria Main Road, Blanchisseuse, claiming they were representatives of the bonafide owner of the land.

The Imam gave his name as Muwakil Abdullah, 39, of Circular Drive, Enterprise, Chaguanas. He told police he is in charge of a mosque in Enterprise. Blanchisseuse police were alerted to a situation near Marianne Beach, and officers under Sr Supt Desmond Lambert, who were at the time on roadblock duty on the North Coast Road, Maracas, responded. When the officers, including Supt Waldron Bishop, Insp Lewis, Sgts Louison and Moore, Cpl Sharpe, and PCs Sutherland, Cordner, Browne, Tota-Maharaj, Victory and Ramoutar, went to the scene, they found about 15 Muslim men, led by Abdullah. Abdullah claimed to be a representative of his cousin, Pamela Williams, who is challenging Franklyn Sogren over ownership of the land.

Abdullah told officers that Williams, of Chinapoo, Morvant, has been paying land tax since 1999, while Sogren said he has been paying for the land since 1935 and had been on the property for 50 years. Sogren, 54, of Eastern Main Road, Barataria, also told the police the controversial piece of land has been handed down from “generation to generation”. He accused the Imam and his gang of destroying some $20,000 in building materials.  However, officer Lambert told both men land disputes are normally settled in court. “You (Abdullah) can’t be going around pulling down and destroying people’s things.  Stop this badjohn nonsense,” Lambert told Abdullah, who simply nodded. The senior officer also told Sogren he should desist from building on the land until the court matter is resolved. Before the Blanchisseuse trip, the officers were on high alert for guns, ammunition and drugs along the North Coast Road. Police sources said the area is a conduit for illegal arms, ammunition and drug trafficking. Nothing illegal was found during the exercise which began close to 11 am.