The five suspects in the Good Hope fatal beating were released on $200,000 station bail each on Thursday and according to Crime Chief Seelall Persaud there is insufficient evidence to lay charges against them.
Persaud told Stabroek News yesterday that the Director of Public Prosecu-tions (DPP) had advised police on Thursday to release the men and conduct further investigations into Tuesday morning’s incident.
According to Persaud, the dead burglar, who gave his name as “Kurt Mayers,” provided false information to hospital officials before he died. He explained that ranks visited the Better Hope South area where he claimed he lived but no one there seemed to know him. He said that the name “Kurt Mayers” was also unfamiliar to residents and the police are now checking the system for any information.
Persaud added too that since no relative has come forward to positively identify the man, police may have to turn to the media for assistance.
Speaking on the investigations, he said that there is not enough evidence to hold anyone responsible at this point. There is no cause of death, among other things, he stressed. Because no one has come forward to positively identify the man, a post-mortem examination has not been performed.
Meanwhile, Stabroek News has been informed that the quintet has to report to the Vigilance Police Station once a week.
According to the police, around 3:35am on Tuesday, Mahendra Persaud, 32, of Good Hope reported that he had caught a man who was found stealing from his house. Ranks responded and upon arrival at the man’s home found “Mayers” in “a naked condition on the ground with his hands and feet tied and marks of violence about his body.”
A bag containing a quantity of jewellery, a cell phone and torchlight, which Persaud said was found in Mayers’ possession, was handed over to the police. The injured man, who was slipping in and out of consciousness, was taken to the Georgetown Hospital and admitted to the Intensive Care Unit under guard.
The man sustained severe head injuries and multiple fractures to his body during the incident. Later that day, Persaud, his brother Muneshwar, two cousins and a neighbour, Stephen Singh, were detained at the Vigilance Police Station.
