Indentureship Indian Heritage Month May 05

Stabroek News
May 4, 2002

Detective Sergeant Harry Kooseram

The police have made no arrests in the death of 37-year-old, Detective Sergeant Harry Kooseram but acting Commissioner of Police, Floyd McDonald, said that they have "good" leads they are working on.

McDonald was questioned on Thursday at a press conference as to how far the investigation into the police officer's death had progressed.

He said that they had not been able to complete the investigation but disclosed that they had good information that could lead to persons or persons being arrested.

Kooseram also called `Rudy' of 149 First Street, Bladen Hall, East Coast Demerara, was fatally shot by an unknown assailant on April 15.

The police officer, who was stationed at the Vigilance Police Station, was shot six times. He was on his way to work when a man approached him, pulled out a gun, which was wrapped in a paper bag and fired six shots two of which hit him in the chest, another three in his abdomen and one in his side.

He was subsequently rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation where he died while his assailant reportedly escaped into the Friendship area.

Farewell to another of our finest
- a tribute to Sergeant Harry Kooseram

Guyana Chronicle
April 19, 2002

DETECTIVE Sergeant Harry Kooseram

DETECTIVE Sergeant 12351 Harry `Rudy' Kooseram, who is being buried today, combined the qualities and virtues any community would find valuable and beneficial.

He was a known and practical family man who was loyal to his household, dominated by a loving wife Phulmattie and two daughters, Suzie and Mandy.

The communities of Stratsphey, Bladen Hall, Vigilance and Cove and John - the latter two being station locations at which he worked - were understandably shocked that he should be singled out by the criminals and their directors for cold-blooded murder.

He was known to be understanding, tolerant and humane in his approach to his work. He was to many villagers the "friendly policeman", quiet and well respected by most.

But his colleagues at the two 'C' Division, East Coast Demerara Stations - one of whom collapsed on hearing of his murder - were visibly upset Monday morning when they received the dreadful news. They regarded the Detective Sergeant as a cool, experienced professional dedicated to his task of investigative and scientific detective work, in pursuit of making Guyana secure, through the successful detection of crime, wherever he was called to track the perpetrators down.

A former superior officer described Kooseram, 37, as both "a decent and gentle policeman, devoted to his duties - and efficient too."

Commander 'C' Division, Assistant Commissioner Jameer describes `Rudy' as having been "a serious methodical investigator of unquestionable ability whose work most times bore fruit." Jameer says that it was sometimes difficult to define fully Kooseram's disposition, as he was extremely "quiet".

Harry Sharma Kooseram, nicknamed `Rudy' by friends and family, was born at Vigilance and went to Strathspey Primary and Bladen Hall Multilateral School. He joined the Force in May 1983. Hard work coupled with his receptive attitude to training resulted in him earning promotions to Lance Corporal (1992), Corporal (1996) and Sergeant (2000, on New Year's Day).

Working in both the urban 'A' Division and the coastal 'C' Division, he soon demonstrated his skills as an investigator in the Force's Criminal Investigation Department (CID). His work was both rewarded and enhanced when he was sent to two courses in the Caribbean - the Junior CID Course at the Regional Police Training Centre, Seawell, Barbados from May 18 to June 12, 1998, and Sexual Offences Investigation Techniques, Trinidad, June 4-8, 2001. This was after he had successfully completed a Special Prosecutors Course in Georgetown from January 1996 to January 1997.

The quiet outrage, which followed the Sergeant's murder on Monday, quite naturally was accompanied by questions as to why was the detective cut down in cold blood in public. And why HIM anyhow?

The environment of evil, murder and chaos has been created by those wishing to benefit from lawlessness and bloodshed; an enabling environment and a charged atmosphere now accommodates criminal acts of murder by some. Kooseram's murder was perpetrated by a villain sponsored by this programme of hate and evil.

There is one bit of informed speculation by a former colleague who guesses that because Kooseram once assisted the late Superintendent Leon Fraser in the investigation of attempted murder, he (Kooseram) might have been singled out for this fatal reprisal. That is conjecture, but the Police have pledged to pursue his killer - relentlessly.

As the country bids farewell to another Police Officer, it is certain that Guyana will never allow a state of anarchy wherein the protectors of the nation's security will be gunned down in an apparent "open season".

The best farewell that could be afford to Detective Kooseram is a vow to fight back; to take back Guyana from the criminals and their managers.

Farewell, Rudy Kooseram.

Cop killed on way to work
Assailant fired six bullets
into his body

Stabroek News
April 16, 2002

The police have launched an investigation into circumstances surrounding the fatal shooting of another member of the Guyana Police Force by an unknown assailant, in the latest in a series of shooting incidents that has gripped the lower East Coast Demerara.

Dead is 37-year-old, Detective Sergeant, Harry Kooseram, called 'Rudy' of 149 First Street, Bladen Hall, ECD, who, according to a police press release was shot six times yesterday morning as he rode to work at the nearby Vigilance Police Station.

According to the release, Kooseram was on his way to work a short distance away from his home when a man approached him, pulled out a gun which was wrapped in paper and fired six shots two of which hit him in the chest, another three in his abdomen and one in his side.

He was subsequently rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital where he died at 0805 hrs. The police said the assailant escaped into the Buxton Friendship area. Commissioner of Police Floyd McDonald expressed condolences to the family and other relatives of the late police sergeant and said that the force would relentlessly pursue the perpetrator of the murder of the unarmed officer.

When this newspaper arrived at the First Street residence of the deceased policeman, several villagers, relatives and friends had gathered to lend comfort to the grieving man's family. Speaking with this newspaper, the visibly shaken wife of the deceased policeman, Pulmattie Kooseram stated that her husband had departed home shortly after 6:30 am yesterday for work at the nearby Vigilance Police Station, where he had been moved briefly recently. He was usually stationed at Cove and John, which houses the main office of the Division Command Centre, but was asked to report for duty at the Vigilance station recently. Pulmattie said that she stood on the verandah and watched her husband ride off. Then about two minutes after as he disappeared from her view, she heard a series of loud bangs, which she took for firecrackers. It was only when she saw other persons looking out and her daughter questioned the sounds that she proceeded to the front gate of their home to see what was going on. Once there, the wife said, a boy who had gone to investigate the source of the sounds, signalled to her. Pulmattie said a sense of panic overtook her and she ran back into the house to change before heading down the road where she found her husband lying in a bloody mess on the road, but still breathing. Assistance was immediately mobilized as police from Vigilance arrived on the scene and he was rushed to the hospital. She said that while doctors were attempting to stabilize him he died.

According to the wife, information that she had received pointed to a lone gunman, who had waited at a roadside stand until her husband turned into the street, before approaching him and firing shots from a concealed weapon. The man then walked away down the street in the direction of the secondary school and the rear of the village leading to the Embankment road. Kooseram, his wife said, had been in the force for over 18 years and served at various locations including Mahaica, Grove and Timehri. They were married 15 years ago and celebrated an anniversary on Saturday last. Kooseram has also left to mourn two teenage daughters Amrita called 'Suzie', 17, and Kumarie called 'Mandy', 13.

According to the distraught wife as far as she knew, Kooseram was not in danger nor had he received any threats to his life. However, she acknowledged that he was a policeman and it would have been difficult for her to know if in the line of duty he had problems with any person. It was the first time to her knowledge that he had been involved in any shooting incident. Kooseram was shot some ten metres from the ECD public road as he rode to work on a pedal cycle. Bloodstains were evident around the area where he received his fatal wounds on the left hand side of the street's edge. Residents in the community recalled hearing the shots. Yesterday there was heavy police presence on the lower ECD. On Saturday last, two young men from Bachelor's Adventure ECD were shot at - one of them, Gavin Sobers, killed -- in mysterious circumstances, which police have been investigating. Kooseram was said to have been on the investigating team.

Kooseram is the second police officer to be killed in the line of duty in recent weeks. The first was superintendent Leon Fraser who was shot while he and a police party were investigating the presence of a hijacked vehicle in a clump of bushes aback of Yarowkabra, Soesdyke/Linden Highway. Meanwhile, a release from the ruling PPP/C yesterday, condemned "the brutal execution of Detective Sergeant Kooseram at the hands of suspected criminals." The WPA, in another release also condemned the killing. Both parties extended sympathy to the detective's relatives. The Guyana Police Association also condemned the officer's killing and called on all persons who might have information relating to the shooting to contact the nearest police station. The association expressed sincere condolences to Kooseram's family, relatives and friends.