Deputy Commissioner of Police Fizal Karimbaksh, one of Guyana Police Force’s most senior officers and Head of the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), is facing fresh allegations of sexual assault, rape and threats against a female police inspector, while the authorities have so far remained publicly silent on the matter.
The allegations have placed renewed scrutiny on Karimbaksh’s conduct and on how the Police Force handles serious complaints against senior officers.
A female police officer has filed an official complaint alleging that Karimbaksh raped and sexually assaulted her on at least two occasions. She also reportedly alleged that he threatened her and pointed a firearm at her. Senior police officers have confirmed that a complaint was received.
Karimbaksh remains on duty while the matter is being investigated. Two senior police officers, told Demerara Waves, he would be questioned as part of the investigation.
The allegations remain unproven. Karimbaksh has not been charged in connection with the latest complaint and is entitled to due process.
What has drawn particular attention, however, is the apparent silence from the Police Force.
The latest controversy is not the first time Karimbaksh has faced allegations concerning his conduct toward female police recruits.
In May 2021, former Police Service Commission member Clinton Conway said the Commission had investigated sexual-harassment complaints made by female police recruits against Karimbaksh and that an investigation by Assistant Commissioner Simon McBean had recommended disciplinary charges. Karimbaksh denied the allegations at the time, describing them as “trumped up.”
Karimbaksh denied those allegations at the time, describing them as “trumped up.” The controversy nevertheless resulted in the Police Service Commission blocking his promotion before he successfully challenged the Commission’s decision in the High Court. He was subsequently promoted to Assistant Commissioner in 2022 and appointed Deputy Commissioner in 2024.
His conduct has also attracted scrutiny on another front this year.
May, this year, Police Commissioner Clifton Hicken disclosed that the Office of Professional Responsibility had been called in over an incident involving Karimbaksh’s intervention in an anti-crime operation. Hicken said the intervention was concerning because it appeared to have occurred outside the established chain of command.
Karimbaksh disputed the Commissioner’s account and argued that, as a Deputy Commissioner, he had the authority to intervene in matters involving police ranks. He also said he was the one who had submitted a complaint arising from the incident.
That dispute is separate from the sexual assault allegations and cannot, by itself, establish wrongdoing.
But the latest complaint has again placed the senior officer’s conduct under the microscope. The timing is particularly significant because the Police Force has itself faced allegations of sexual misconduct involving female recruits at its Academy.
Last October the Police Force said an investigation into alleged inappropriate conduct at the Academy had been completed and that the case file would be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions for advice. Several officers were transferred from the Academy during that process.
The latest allegations come against a backdrop of concerns about sexual misconduct within the Guyana Police Force. In November 2025, Home Affairs Minister Oneidge Walrond had reaffirmed the Force’s zero-tolerance policy on sexual misconduct involving officers and female subordinates.
Walrond said allegations involving subordinate female officers would be treated “very, very seriously”. She also confirmed that officers implicated in allegations at the Police Training College had been removed from their duties while disciplinary proceedings were pending, with the matter before the Office of Professional Responsibility.
Against that background, the latest allegations against one of the Force’s highest-ranking officers raise a fundamental question about accountability.
If the allegations are false, a transparent investigation should establish that. If they are supported by evidence, the appropriate criminal and disciplinary consequences should follow.
The investigation must therefore be conducted independently, fairly and without interference.
For now, however, the public is left waiting for the Police Force and the Ministry of Home Affairs to explain what action has been taken, whether Karimbaksh remains in his position while the investigation proceeds, and what safeguards are in place to protect the complainant.
The allegations are serious. Silence from the institutions responsible for policing them only makes the demand for answers more urgent.
