Cattle farmer to sue stray catchers and Albion police
Tillawattie Singh and her husband, Sookdeo Singh, plan to take eight stray catchers of Port Mourant; and ranks of the Rose Hall Town Police Outpost and Albion Police Station to court for ‘assault and wrongful detention’. At issue are 16 head of cattle.
Mr. Singh, a cattle farmer, claimed that he was brutally attacked and beaten by eight stray- catchers armed with cutlasses on Tuesday afternoon while he was bringing home sixteen head of cattle. He stated that he was bringing home his cattle into Rambella Street, Port Mourant around 17:25 hrs on Tuesday, something he usually does at
Sookdeo Singh displays his injured back.
that time.
He added that he had the necessary red flag and allowed the cows to cross the public road. Suddenly, he stated, a white car pulled up and the men emerged, each armed with a cutlass. “The stray catchers jumped out of the car—PMM 1018—and started to beat me. They throw away my bicycle.”
“They started to beat me up and fired chops on me—all of them get one, one cutlass and they cuffed and kicked me in my stomach and back.”
He stated that he did not resist the men when they wanted to impound the cows and questioned why the stray catchers did what they allegedly did to him.
Singh added that four of the stray catchers drove him in the car to the Rose Hall Town Police Outpost, while the other four took charge of the animals at Port Mourant and led the cows to the Albion Police Station animal pound. Singh claimed that the police at the outpost refused to give him a medical to take for medical attention at the Port Mourant Hospital. “They refused and they sent me to Whim Police Station where they gave me a medical.”
He further claimed that the CID officer at the outpost “gave me two slaps.”
More than a week after the incident, the animals have not been released from the police pound.
When contacted last evening, Mrs. Singh stated that the cattle are still at the Albion Police Station pound, more than a week after the incident. She also claimed that they are not being fed. She stated that she spoke with the Region Six Chairman, Mr. David Armogan who directed her to former Region Six Chairman and PPP Executive Member, Mr. Zulfikar Mustapha who “said he will speak to the Home Affairs Minister to get back the cows and he said the Minister will resolve the matter.” That was since last week. Singh is becoming very frustrated since several calves at home are “crying out for their mothers” in the pounds. “One calf even died—I tried to feed it bottle milk and it refused…and died,” she claimed.
“Today [Tuesday] when I go station, the police stopped me from feeding and giving the cows water—they chased me out of the pound. They didn’t even want to pen the pound gate. They saying that the animals getting food but I didn’t see any impression of water or grass…”
For every additional night the animals are impounded, the Singhs have to pay $200 per head of cattle. The Singhs have solicited the services of Attorneys- at- Law, Mr. Khemraj Ramjattan and Mr. Moses Nagamootoo. Legal paperwork is expected to be drawn up shortly. “My husband was with the cows and we were forced to pay this money and plus they beat the man up.”
Efforts to contact the Station Sergeant of the Albion Police Station proved futile
