Ex-cop in custody, another hunted

Omar Ralph, the ex-policeman who was captured by lawmen yesterday, just days after he was listed as a major person of interest, is to be handed over to the Westmoreland police to face criminal charges.

Ralph is wanted on murder and abduction charges, but head of the Westmoreland police, Superintendent Dezeita Taylor, declined to give details yesterday.

"I don't want to speak on that matter right now because the investigation is at a very delicate stage," she told The Gleaner yesterday.

The Constabulary Communication Network (CCN), the police information arm, confirmed that Ralph was in custody and is being questioned by senior detectives.

Nabbed in portmore

The CCN said he was picked up in Portmore, St Catherine.

Police sources say he was nabbed during an operation carried out by police personnel from the Mobile Reserve.

Last Friday, the St Catherine North police made a public appeal for Ralph to turn himself in, saying they wanted to question him about two recent incidents of murder and abduction.

Yesterday, the police also released a photograph of ex-policeman Elijah Douglas, who is wanted for wounding with intent in relation to a December 12, 2008 incident in Longville Park, Clarendon.

Douglas has been on the run since, but is believed to have recently returned to the island after absconding. The police are asking the public for assistance in locating him.