A post-mortem examination on 24-year-old Dweive Kant Ramdass who was dumped in the Essequibo River on Thursday showed that he died of asphyxiation – consistent with the confessions of members of the coast guard who robbed him of $17M.
Stabroek News understands that the examination was done by Dr V Bridgemohan who also concluded that drowning contributed to the young man’s death. The man’s family yesterday said they were not satisfied with the findings of the examination as they strongly believe the young man was beaten before being dumped.
A sister of the young man, Nirvana Burnette, told Stabroek News yesterday that no family member was allowed to enter the room where the post-mortem was performed and they are questioning this. She said that there were obvious marks of violence on her brother’s body when it was pulled out of the Essequibo River on Saturday morning in the vicinity of Caiman Hole, the same area where the three soldiers had admitted dumping him on Thursday.
“His feet and around his neck had injuries and one of his eyes was popped out and he had what looked like a blow to the back of his head so I don’t know how they are not finding that he was beaten,” the sister said yesterday morning. Police sources yesterday said that the man’s body was decomposed and parts of the skin broken and therefore it appeared as if he was beaten, however, Burnette disputed this view as according to her Ramdass’s body was not in the water for such a long period.
“We hope that there is no cover-up and we are not going to take this easy and now one police officer telling us nonsense that “dem [his killers] just brush he up, we not taking this lightly,” the sister declared.
Meanwhile, sources told Stabroek News that the two soldiers in charge of the Fort Island base, where the three accused coast guard members were stationed, have been hauled in for questioning and are now at the Leonora Police Station. The sergeant in charge of the men reportedly gave his second-in-command a day off on request and he later left the base leaving a corporal in charge of the two privates.
It was during that period the three coast guard members took Ramdass out of a boat which had just left the Parika Stelling and robbed and threw him overboard. Reports are that while the men were returning to the area with the money the sergeant was returning to the base and attempted to stop them but they continued on their way and even switched off their cellular phones. The sergeant and his subordinate are now being questioned about their disappearance from the base at that said time and it is believed that the three coast guards had to be working with information as it was not the first time Ramdass would have travelled the route with large sums of money.
“They need to explain how they were conveniently not at the base when this was happening,” a source told Stabroek News.
Army Chief of Staff, Commodore Gary Best has since announced that a board of inquiry has been launched to determine the circumstances that led to the unauthorised patrol by the ranks.
‘Justice’
And Commander-in-Chief, President Bharrat Jagdeo in a Government Information Agency (GINA) release deplored the action by the army ranks.
“It’s reprehensible but it’s even worse because it was reportedly committed by members of the security forces – people who are supposed to protect and serve our country with integrity,” the president said in the release.
“We are not going to leave any stone unturned to ensure that they are brought to justice” he continued.
It is justice the relatives of Ramdass want and they are hoping that the matter is dealt with expeditiously. Stabroek News understands that the three men may appear in the Leonora Magistrate’s Court tomorrow.
Ramdass’ relatives said it was not the first time he had such a large sum of money on him. Relatives said that the young man’s older brother did the business, purchasing gold and diamond in Bartica for a Church Street business, but he later handed over to him as he was not working at the time.
“We don’t want to reveal too much about what he did because remember these people still have to conduct their business, life goes on,” Ramdass’s sister said yesterday. She maintained that the army ranks had to receive some information on her brother’s goings and comings and would have known he had money on his person when they singled him out.
Before he started doing the buying and selling business for the gold and diamond dealer the young Bartica resident worked in one of his brothers’ clothing stall in the Bartica Arcade and also worked briefly as a seaman on one of his sister’s boats.
Reports reaching this newspaper indicate that Barticians are very angry over the young man’s brutal death and are calling for a speedy trial. The Ramdass family is said to be well-known and respected in the community and residents are shocked over the incident.
‘Baby of the family’
Ramdass, who only celebrated his 24th birthday two Fridays ago, was the youngest of nine children and was said to be the “baby of the family.”
“Let me tell you he spoil rotten but he was a nice young man, always coming and hugging and kissing you. He was really sweet,” his sister said yesterday.
“Everything for him was still childish though, he was still a child and he did childish things, I don’t know why they had to take our baby,” the woman said.
She said they lost their mother when Ramdass was just eight and their father died five years ago “so we don’t have any parents it is just us brothers and sisters.”
“When our mother died it was traumatising because we did not expect it but when our father died it was not that hard because he was sick. But now this, this is more than we can take, he was young and full of life he was not sick, we don’t know how we would get over this,” another sibling lamented.
The family are staunch churchgoers and his sister Navana said they are comforted in the fact that their brother “knew Jesus and he would have made it right with the Lord.”
“But you know you are thinking how he would have begged, I know my brother and I know he begged for his life, he didn’t want to die. He must have been thinking that maybe one of his brothers would save him,” his sister said.
Police in their press release on Friday had said that they were investigating a robbery/abduction. According to the release, a report had been made that Ramdass of Third Avenue, Bartica, had been abducted by “three men in uniform similar to that of the Coast Guard,” in a boat between 3 and 3.30 pm in the Essequibo River.
The police release stated that seven persons had been arrested and $12.7M recovered, of which $4.3M was unaccounted for. This development led to the arrest of two policemen, who are still in custody pending investigations into the money outstanding.
Three relatives of the Coast Guard who were found with bags containing the cash were also arrested on Thursday. Among them was a woman. The three ranks according to information received, had admitted during interrogation that they had strangled Ramdass before dumping him in the river.
The shocking robbery and murder has raised more questions about another recent boat mishap in the Essequibo River in which two men died and a ten-year-old is still missing. Relatives of 45-year-old Jianarine Dinanauth and Henry Gibson, the same age, had initially suspected that the men’s boat was robbed. Dinanauth, who had only recently come out of the interior, reportedly wore jewellery which was missing when he was found, and had on his person $300,000. The body of ten-year-old Ricky Jainarine is yet to be found and yesterday his mother, Salimoon Rahaman, told Stabroek News that she hopes that if the now arrested coast guard ranks had anything to do with the incident that they confess. She said while there are reports that the coast guard boat was indeed seen close to the men’s boat she is yet to speak to the person who made the allegation. But she believes in her heart that the men were robbed and murdered. The men were making the 30-minute ride from Parika to Hog Island when the mishap occurred.
There are reports that the coast guard boat was hauled up on shore for three days after the incident but Commodore Best has reportedly stated that this was for normal maintenance work and has dismissed the allegations as mere “speculation.”
The incident also follows on the heels of another in the interior involving soldiers who robbed some miners close to Port Kaituma and they have since been charged and remanded to prison.
It also brings back memories of the Lindo Creek incident of June, 2008 where eight miners were killed and their bodies burnt. While the police and the army have maintained that the now dead Rondell ‘Fineman’ Rawlins and his marauding gang of killers were responsible for the murders, the owner of the camp, Leonard Arokium, had from the inception accused members of the joint services of committing the grisly act.
Ramdass will be laid to rest today in his native Bartica.