Early morning raids were conducted by the police yesterday in several East Bank Demerara villages and a number of persons including a suspect in two murders were arrested and an unlicensed weapon found.
The operation was sparked by the murder of Kaneville resident, Brendon Charles who was reportedly battered and fatally shot early Saturday morning. Among the areas searched were Friendship, Grove, Agricola and La Penitence.
Commander of `A’ Division, Leroy Brummell told Stabroek News yesterday that at Friendship, ranks recovered a 12-gauge shotgun and thirteen matching rounds.
A suspect, he said, was also picked up by ranks in the Agricola area and in a known character.
According to Brummell, the man was arrested for questioning into the June murder of Peter’s Hall businessman Dewan Roshan and last November’s slaying of Melissa Payne.
Roshan who operated a grocery store at his home died in the Intensive Care Unit of the Georgetown Hospital one week after he was shot during a robbery.
Police had said that Roshan was attacked and robbed around 6:45 pm by two men who were armed with a shotgun and a cutlass.
The businessman, according to police, was standing in his yard after closing his business place when the two men entered and held him up. A scuffle ensued between Roshan and the men during which he was shot in his abdomen.
The 49-year-old Roshan was later stripped of his pants along with $80,000 by the men before they fled the scene.
On November 5 last, 27-year-old Payne and her reputed husband John Fraser were forced to stop on the East Bank Demerara road at Agricola after the canter they were in encountered a mechanical problem.
Within minutes and while Fraser, a contractor, was attempting to fix the problem, gunmen who were standing in an old shop across the road came over and menaced them.
One approached Fraser, another went to the woman and the third acted as a lookout. Fraser managed to run into oncoming traffic but Payne was unlucky as a gun had already been pressed against her side and she was commanded to hand over the handbag she was clutching.
From all accounts, the woman attempted to escape and was shot in the process while the men fled through a nearby alleyway with the bag which contained more than $100,000 and the two gold chains she was wearing.
Payne who sustained a single gunshot wound under her right armpit was pronounced dead on arrival at the Georgetown Hospital. Fraser escaped unhurt.
Several other persons were arrested and questioned in relation to the murder. (Zoisa Fraser)
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