Two men were arrested for questioning into the January murder of Goedverwagting watch vendor Paul Samaroo just over a month ago but their subsequent release has left relatives fearful that the perpetrators will never be caught.
Stabroek News was reliably informed that two suspects were picked up by police in the arcade where Samaroo plied his trade prior to his death.
A grief-stricken Bibi Khan said recently that about a month ago her husband, Neville, contacted the police who said that they “still following up de story”. She said that with the arrest of the two suspects she was clinging to the hope that she would finally get justice but has heard nothing more about those persons or the investigation. She said she would appreciate it if investigators could continue to look around the arcade area since she believes the perpetrators began watching her son from there. She opined that the two bandits had a third accomplice in Georgetown since the duo was seen hanging around Samaroo’s home prior to the shooting.
“I know it gon tek lil time fuh police do their job because they got a lot of thing to do but ah want them to try,” the woman said sadly.
She recounted that recently she saw a news item on an elderly man being shot dead during a robbery in the city and her own pain and grief immediately flooded her mind. She said that the two incidents are identical.
Khan said she will get some peace of mind if the police compare the bullets retrieved from both scenes pointing out that the bullet that was lodged in her son’s body was handed over to the police after doctors removed it.
“I want them to check and see if it the same gun use because it (the two shootings) is sort of similar,” the woman said trying hard to fight back tears.
“I must get justice. Somebody knows. Even if it tek long I got to get justice for my son,” Khan added.
She told Stabroek News that even though three months have passed since Samaroo, her only son was killed she, her husband and other relatives are greatly affected.
She explained, “Neville pressure always high. It still affecting he,” adding that she has a similar complaint but just tries to make it through each day.
Khan said that Samaroo’s wife “taking it on” especially since their third child is so small. The infant is 4 months old while the other children are 12 and seven years old respectively.
The woman said the older children cry often and question why their father had to be shot. The family is helping to raise the children.
Her second child, she said, is also sometimes overwhelmed with tears; she and Samaroo were very close.
Thirty-two-year-old Samaroo succumbed to a single gunshot wound to the abdomen almost three weeks after the December 16 incident.
At the time of his death he was undergoing treatment at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Georgetown Public Hospital.
Police had reported that Samaroo was attacked and robbed by two men, during which he was shot. Investigations revealed that Samaroo was confronted by the two men, one of whom was armed with a handgun. The armed man shot him and then took away his jewellery and escaped.
Days after the shooting relatives had complained to this newspaper that investigators were yet to return to the scene to look for spent shells.
‘Mommy don’t cry…’
On the verge of tears, Khan told this newspaper during the interview that the shooting happened in a flash. She said that usually she and her husband would sit and wait on the veranda and wait for Samaroo to return home.
However, on the day of the incident what appeared to be wind pain (gas) attacked her and they went inside to make tea. Khan now believes that belly pain was a sign that something bad was about to happen.
The woman recalled that later the pain was intense when she heard what sounded like a gunshot.
“I jump up and shout Neville! Neville! Paul get shot!” she recalled, adding “I don’t know how I reach down the step.”
She found her son lying near the gate and she recalled him telling her “Mommy don’t cry I am going to be ok.” Khan said she held on to this belief until he died on January 3.
Khan told Stabroek News that even if he had lived with some injury she would have been contented since at least he would have been alive. “I woulda glad even if ah had to work to maintain him,” she said sadly.
Recounting what she had been told by an eyewitness, Khan said Samaroo walked into his yard with ear plugs in his ears.
The eyewitness said two well-dressed men with their caps concealing their faces were behind him but Samaroo could not hear the shouts of danger because he was listening to music.
The woman said that according to what she was told Samaroo was closing the gate when the men rushed up and shot him. She said after the gunshot, Samaroo remained on his feet and it was one of the men who pushed him down before he and his accomplice removed the gold jewellery.
“He could have run to safety if he had heard his friend hollering,” she told Stabroek News.
She added that there was not much the eyewitness could have done as when he heard the gunshot, he dove for cover.
The eyewitness told her that when the men came up, Samaroo told them “yall tek meh thing and go long, ah got a baby”.
“This thing really hurtful because he ain’t had no big lump sum of money or no luxuries, she stressed.
Meanwhile Khan is calling for the street light near her home to be fixed. She said that that area is very dark at nights and though reports have been made to the power company nothing has been done.
She added too that many young men often lime on a bridge located in this dark area and would pounce on unsuspecting residents as they pass.
She said that just recently a young woman was attacked by two young men.
As the months go by, Khan and her relatives say they look forward to the day when Samaroo’s killers are placed in cell at the Georgetown Prisons.
