– two others in custody
A man wanted for questioning in relation to the murder of Good Hope businessman Ramzan Alli was shot and injured by police early yesterday morning, while two others are in custody.
Police, in a press release issued last evening reported that Anthony Bellamy, 35, was shot and injured during efforts to arrest him at Enterprise Railway Embankment, East Coast Demerara.
Bellamy, police said, was wanted for questioning with regard to “investigations into a number of robberies and the murder of businessman Ramzan Alli”. He was seen by police ranks “and during efforts to arrest him, he pushed away one of the ranks while at the same time making a suspicious movement with his hand toward his waist and was shot to his left side. A knife was found in his pants’ waist.”
The man has been admitted a patient under guard at the Georgetown Public Hospital. A search of his home, according to police, led to the discovery of several items suspected to have been stolen “or unlawfully obtained”. Two toilet bowls, two kitchen sinks, two television sets, and a microwave were found and taken into police custody.
Meanwhile, Crime Chief Seelal Persaud told Stabroek News yesterday that police had taken two persons into custody in relation to Alli’s death since Sunday. Asked if police had any theory about the murder, Persaud would only say that there are several “lines” of investigation.
Alli, 45, of Kissoon’s Housing Scheme, Good Hope was discovered dead, with a plastic bag duct taped over his head, in the trunk of a car he had rented. Stabroek News had been reliably informed that there were no visible marks of violence on Alli’s body. A post-mortem examination is yet to be conducted.
Police reported on Sunday that Alli’s body was found around 8.30 am that day on the Coldingen Railway Embankment Road in the trunk of his rental car. Alli had left his home around 9.20 pm on Saturday after receiving a phone call. After Alli failed to return home, police had said, relatives and employees conducted a search on Sunday morning and found the rental vehicle on the road. The police were subsequently informed and a search later revealed Alli’s body in the trunk.
An East Coast resident, who drove past the Coldingen area shortly before 1 am on Sunday, reported seeing a car parked there. The resident did not stop to investigate because it was late and there was no sign that anyone was in or out of the vehicle. While it is possible that it might have been Alli’s rental car, the resident was in no position to vouch for that. Sources had also said that police will likely be tracking down the person who had called Alli on Saturday night for further clues.
The time and place of Alli’s murder remain uncertain. A police source had indicated that it was possible that Alli might have been murdered at a different location and then abandoned on the lonely Coldingen road. Efforts made to contact man’s family yesterday were futile.
The man transported fuel, groceries and other items to the North West District to sell. Alli’s death comes almost a year after his younger brother, scrap metal dealer Akbar Alli, was fatally shot during a daring daylight robbery on Brickdam, Georgetown.
