…two months after boat mystery
By Gaulbert Sutherland
The whereabouts of 10-year-old Ricky Jainarine remain a mystery two months after he disappeared following an Essequibo River boat collision that left his father and another man dead and despite tantalizing clues, authorities have thus far failed to pinpoint the other vessel.
Not knowing where the lad is keeps his mother, Salimoon Rahaman in limbo. “I can’t explain the feeling I am having right now”, she told Stabroek News last week. Checking with the police is futile, she said. “Every time you come out, they does tell me they investigating and they can’t tell me nothing”.
Ricky’s father, Jainarine Dinanauth, 45, and a family friend, Henry Gibson, 45, died in the incident. On the evening of August 11, the three were heading to Hog Island in the Essequibo River. The bodies of the two men were discovered in the shattered boat the next morning but there was no sign of Ricky. Since then, a relentless search by Rahaman failed to yield any sign of the lad.
Many questions remain unanswered in the wake of the incident. The police seem no closer to apprehending anyone involved in the collision though tantalizing clues have surfaced. Among these are blue paint on a green Coast Guard boat and green paint on Dinanauth’s white and blue boat.
Rahaman and other members of the public believe that Coast Guard ranks were involved. Their suspicions were heightened after three Coast Guard ranks were charged with the murder of Bartica gold dealer, Dweive Kant Ramdass in the Essequibo River. The Guyana Defence Force (GDF) investigated but said this was “inconclusive”.
But the Force’s Board of Inquiry, which had been set up to examine Ramdass’ abduction and death and which was additionally instructed to speak to the families of the dead men, found that the Coast Guard vessel –RC12 was in the Essequibo River at the time that Dinanauth and the two others were in the river.
The Report commented that the accident occurred at a time which the Coast Guard vessel RC12 was reportedly moored at the Fort Island wharf. However it stated: “It should be noted that a resupply trip was done on the said day to Parika from 16:35 to 17:55 hours, the vessel returned around the time that Mr Jainarayan’s [Dinanauth] boat was on its way from Parika to Hog Island”.
An investigation by the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) had found blue paint on the Coast Guard vessel. And there were green paint marks on the blue and white boat that the trio was in. Persons had also reported that in the days following August 11, the Coast Guard boat was dry-docked for three days and there were reports that a section had been painted over.
The blue paint samples from the Coast Guard boat have been handed over to the police for testing but no results have been forthcoming. Efforts to contact, Police Divisional Commander, Paulette Morrison, over the past week were unsuccessful and when finally reached on Friday, she said that she was in a meeting. However, Rahaman told Stabroek News that she spoke to the commander on Thursday and was only told that investigations are continuing.
Rahaman had said that there were persons, who had witnessed the incident but were afraid to come forward. She had informed the police about an alleged eyewitness but was told by them that she would have to get him to come forward.
Officially, the police have said that a suspect was apprehended and later released but they are still pursuing leads into a green boat that he was aboard on the day in question. The police said the suspect was apprehended after the force received information of the suspicious movements of a boat on the night when the accident occurred. The man was questioned and he denied being involved in an accident, stating that the boat he had in his possession on the night in question did not belong to him and had been returned to Venezuela.
The police said diligent enquiries were conducted but the boat in question was never found nor identified. The suspect who had been in custody, had habeas corpus proceedings filed on his behalf and he was subsequently released on bail. The man had denied possessing a green boat, but according to the police, reliable sources informed that the boat the man was using on the date in question was painted green.
The fact that the other boat involved in the incident did not contact the authorities following the incident also raised questions. Suspicious too was the fact that items Dinanauth had on his person were missing though his licensed firearm was left in his pocket. He had just returned from the interior, where he mined and reportedly had some raw gold on his person along with over $500,000 and a gold watch, all of which was missing when his body was found. He also had a bag that has not been found.
Additionally, the autopsy results had shown that both men had died of asphyxiation due to drowning but that there was also blunt trauma to the head, chest and stomach. It was postulated that the men could have been beaten and their heads held under water. This also seemed likely as the bodies were found in the shattered boat and not in the water.
Up to now, Rahaman said, no “proper answer” is forthcoming from anyone, least of all the police. “I just want to know where my son is”, she said, “I want to hear what answers they will give me for him”. The once daily searches she undertook, scouring the wide Essequibo has stopped. “I don’t think he is in the river up to now”. But whenever, she hears something; a rumour, she tries to investigate. “I believe he is somewhere out there”.
She has returned to farming to earn her livelihood and said that it is hard now since there is no one to help. And other problems have cropped up. Transportation for her produce is difficult to obtain, she said. Rahaman has contacted the police commander to see if she could get back the engine from the boat but was told to hold on. She related that she was told she could not get the engine as yet as investigations are still continuing. That is all she has been hearing for the past two months.