This is to determine whether to lay charges against the three coastguards, who have been charged with the murder of Bartica gold dealer, Dweive Kant Ramdass in the Essequibo River, a police source said. The file was sent to the DPP a few weeks ago, according to the source.
Ricky’s father, Jainarine Dinanauth, 45, and a family friend, Henry Gibson, 45, died in the August 11 incident. That evening, 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 the boy’s mother Salimoon Rahaman failed to yield any sign of him.
An investigation by the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) had found blue paint on the green Coastguard 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 Coastguard boat was dry-docked for three days and there were reports that a section had been painted over. The blue paint samples from the Coastguard boat were handed over to the police for testing.
This newspaper could not determine whether the tests were completed. Crime Chief Seelall Persaud had told Stabroek News last month that the Force has acquired a new piece of equipment that would allow for a more comprehensive analysis of the samples. He said then that testing of the samples was on hold until the equipment was installed. The month he said this would take, would have been completed this weekend. A short training on its use would have to be undertaken, Persaud had said.
Notwithstanding, the file has been sent to the DPP, the source said. Relatives and others have criticised the pace of police investigations. Rahaman and other members of the public have long held that Coastguard ranks were involved in the incident and had murdered the men. Their suspicions were heightened after three Coastguard ranks were charged with killing Ramdass.
The Guyana Defence Force (GDF) investigated the boat incident but said this was “inconclusive” though the force’s Board of Inquiry found that the Coastguard vessel – RC12 – was in the Essequibo River at the time that Dinanauth and the two others were in the river.
Relatives have also pointed to the fact that the other boat involved in the incident did not contact the authorities following the incident. 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.
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.
There had been reports that two persons had witnessed the incident. Rahaman told this newspaper that she contacted one of the men but he denied seeing anything. She has not managed to contact the other man but was told that he too denied seeing anything.
Meanwhile, she has finally got back her boat engine after weeks of running to and from the authorities. She said that she had to go to the DPP chambers and then to the person who sold her the engine since it was in Ricky’s name. She said she was told that he was too young to have purchased an engine but she explained that it was bought as a gift for him. After she got a letter to this effect from the seller, which she took back to the DPP Chambers, the engine was finally released.
Rahaman, who farms to earn her livelihood, had earlier told this newspaper that she was finding it difficult to get transportation to get her produce to the market.
