The police have said it will not jeopardise the investigation into the murder of Senior Counsel Dana Seetahal so as to satisfy a call for a speedy outcome.So said Deputy Commissioner of Police Glenn Hackett during a press briefing at the Police Administration Building, Port-of-Spain, yesterday.He said the probe was not a run-of-the mill investigation.
"The investigation was progressing steadily, given the singular nature of the investigative process, and given the idiosyncratic challenges that faced us with respect to this investigation. We have had some challenges, technical as well as technological," Hackett said.He said the police had sought foreign assistance and this was being undertaken."But given the totality of the circumstances, I can tell you that it is progressing steadily. I am adamant in this investigation that I would not sacrifice accuracy for speed," Hackett added.
Seetahal was murdered on May 4 after leaving the Ma Pau casino on Ariapita Avenue, Woodbrook. As she passed the Woodbrook Youth Facility on Hamilton Holder Street, her light-blue Volkswagen Touareg was shot at several times.Seetahal died on the spot.
At last week's launch of Seetahal's book Commonwealth Caribbean Criminal Practice and Procedure, her sister, Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) director Susan Francois, called on the police to step up their investigations.
She had said since criminals faced no legal consequences it was easy to conclude that murder was now a form of entertainment in T&T."Her perpetrators have not been caught and it concerns me because inordinate delay in investigating homicide crime...there is a direct correlation between inordinate delay and unsuccessful conclusions.
"This would lead to the impression that criminals could operate with impunity in this country. Inordinate delay, as well, in my view, leads to the perception that murder is a form of entertainment in this land of ours," Francois said.