Source: Newsday
On April 3, 2004 Newsday reported, "Members of several Richmond Hill minority communities rallied Saturday for a suspended Guyanese and Hindu detective who they claim has been unfairly targeted due to his popularity with them. Carrying signs reading 'Reinstate Rudy Now!' and 'Investigate the accuser,' about 150 people [of multiple faiths] met at Jamaica and Myrtle avenues, a few blocks from the 102nd Precinct, in support of Det. Rudranau Toolasprashad. 'We are here to send a message to city hall that Rudy should be reinstated. This community is strongly behind him. The allegations are baseless,' said Nan Bedesi, president of the Richmond Hill Community Association, one of the rally organizers. Toolasprashad, 38, who is more commonly known as Rudy Prashad, was suspended and placed on modified desk duty after allegations that he was providing favors to local businessmen in exchange for money and other gratuities...The protesters said they hoped to press police to close the investigation. They describe the detective as an ambassador to the largely immigrant minority communities, someone who helped them get through the painful process of adjusting to new life in a foreign land. 'He is the one person to go to when you have a crisis,' said Rani Bacheu, a Richmond Hill resident. 'We are foreigners, so we live a timid life. So we talk to him, and he advises us. Every religion, every ethnicity.'"