Man arrested for calling police and threatening to kill Guyanese president

A 64-year-old man in Guyana has been charged with threatening to kill President David Granger by detonating a bomb at the presidency.

Motilall Balkaran was arrested last month for allegedly calling the police emergency line and threatening to kill the president by placing a bomb at the Ministry of the Presidency, reports regional news portal Caribbean360.

He appeared in a Georgetown court on Monday and pleaded not guilty before the presiding judge Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan denied him bail and remanded him in prison custody until his next court hearing on April 16, reports added.

The police alleged that he called the Brickdam Police Station twice to make the threats.

His lawyer, Tiffany Jeffrey argued that Balkaran was not the only person living in the house at the time the phone call was made, and a voice recognition verification was not carried out to prove that he made the call.

This is the third case of threats against the president recorded in the past three years. Another man, Alim Ally is serving a five-year sentence for assault, causing bodily harm and threatening language charges after he was found guilty in December 2017 for calling the police emergency line and threatening to kill the president and shoot at the police station.

In 2016, 52-year-old Bibi Safoora Salim was charged with posting death threats against the president via Facebook. The charges were thrown out by chief magistrate Ann McLennan.