ST. ELIZABETH, Jamaica — Police have retracted their statement naming Accompong Maroon chief Richard Curry as a suspect in the alleged attack on seven Forest Service personnel at QuickStep in St. Elizabeth last weekend.
Initial reports indicated that Curry was asked to report to the St. Elizabeth district headquarters in Black River by 10am on Monday. However, Superintendent-General Stephanie Lindsay, head of the Jamaica Police Force’s communications unit, confirmed that Curry’s name had been removed from the list of suspects, and he is no longer required to turn himself in.
The incident involved seven Forest Service personnel who reportedly barricaded themselves in Cockpit Country while attempting to transport mahogany timber from QuickStep, a town near Accompong in north St. Elizabeth. The Forestry Department had claimed that their operations were disrupted by over 200 local residents and illegal loggers, who were allegedly involved in large-scale illegal logging activities in the area.
