Following days of surveillance and careful planning, police yesterday arrested the prime suspect in the murder of 77-year-old Montrose caretaker Danrasie Ganesh and the man told investigators that one of the woman’s relatives hired him to carry out the brutal crime.
At the time of his arrest at a house at Guyhoc in the city, the suspect was wearing the same clothes he wore when he murdered Ganesh, who was beaten and strangled in an August 1st attack that was recorded by surveillance cameras.
The suspect has indicated to investigators that he was hired by one of Ganesh’s close relatives to break into the house and find documents for the property, which is presently the subject of a dispute.
Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum confirmed the arrest of the suspect and two other men, who have been identified as accomplices in Ganesh’s murder.
A source said that after confessing, the suspect told investigators that he was given $700,000 to commit the crime and he implicated the close male relative of Ganesh along with another individual.
The arrest is being seen as testimony that police can pool their resources and work diligently to achieve breakthroughs in high profile cases and senior police officials yesterday lauded ranks for their remarkable efforts in this particular investigation.
However, the suspect also unwittingly aided the police investigation by failing to remove the surveillance footage before leaving the crime scene.
Footage from surveillance cameras in the house showed the woman being bludgeoned repeatedly with a spanner and the killer, whose face and other physical characteristics were clearly visible, later ransacking the house as if he was in search of something specific.
Stabroek News was told that after exiting the house the suspect was instructed to go back inside and retrieve the surveillance footage.
However, he was clueless as to what he had to look for and instead of taking a disk from a DVR, he found and collected a disk from a DVD player.
Stabroek News was told that the suspect first spotted his face in one of the daily newspapers and, overcome with fear that he would be caught, he started moving from house to house. At least one of his close relatives recognised him after watching a televised news report of the killing, which featured his image.
Confession
Based on the suspect’s account to police, he was able to gain entry to property through the woman’s close relative, who opened the gate for him the night before the murder. Both men apparently slept in a vehicle which was parked in the yard.
The suspect also told police that he had a gun in his possession and he suggested that he use it. However, the relative was not in favour of this method since he was fearful that neighbours might be alerted if the gun was fired.
A spanner was later found in the vehicle and the suspect said that he suggested that it be used to on the woman.
Using a key given to him by the relative, the man said that he entered the house. His instructions were to locate documents concerning the property and hand them over to the relative. Stabroek News was told that the man recounted the events just as how they were captured in the surveillance footage.
The chilling footage of the murder showed Ganesh being struck to the head by the suspect and she fell to the ground. The man was seen wrapping a piece of cloth around Ganesh’s neck while he dragged her.
He then dealt her a few more blows with the spanner and he stomped on her. Later, the man was also observed taking a snack and drinking juice that was inside the fridge.
After the first attack on Ganesh, the man left the elderly woman lying on the floor. While he was searching for the documents he was after, he saw her moving and it was at this point he returned to where she was and started hitting her until he was certain that she was dead. He then grabbed up some documents, which he handed over to the relative, who was waiting outside.
During their exchange, the suspect said the man told him he needed to go back inside and retrieve the surveillance footage. However, he ended up retrieving a disc from a Blu-ray DVD player. He handed over the disc to the relative before catching a bus headed to the city.
Later, after realising that there was footage of the killing circulating, the suspect confronted the relative at an East Coast village and during an exchange threatened to kill him.
Relatives had discovered Ganesh’s body in a pool of blood in the kitchen of the bottom flat of the two-storey Montrose house, for which she had been caretaker for some time. An autopsy revealed that the elderly woman died as a result of strangulation and brain haemorrhaging.
Days after the murder, police released a still image of the man.
Police had arrested two persons but they were both released without charge. It was later revealed that police had received information about the identity of the suspect and were actively pursuing him.
Stabroek News was reliably informed yesterday that the prime suspect was in the police system for previous break and enter offences.
This was apparently why he was allegedly hired by Ganesh’s relative.
After police investigators realised who he was, ranks had him under surveillance.
The suspect’s clothes and his boots have been lodged and are being examined by investigators for forensic evidence.
