The decomposing body of a man, suspected to be one of four missing fishermen who were on a rescue mission, washed up on the Hampton Court foreshore, Essequibo Coast yesterday morning.
Crime Chief Seelall Persaud said that the body has not been positively identified as one of those missing but Stabroek News has learnt that it fits the description of Kumar Narine, a resident of Vigilance, East Coast Demerara.
The body, which was found around 7:45am, is at the Suddie Hospital mortuary. A post-mortem examination is to be done.
Narine, fish vendor Shafeek Khan, taxi driver Damodar Khemraj called ‘Raco,’ Richard Smith and Dheneshwar Reddy, called ‘Smallie,’ left in a fishing vessel from the Meadow Bank Wharf, East Bank Demerara around 3 pm last Saturday with an additional outboard engine in order to render assistance to one of the fishing crews that had been attacked and robbed by armed men in the Pomeroon River area. During the night, the boat capsized somewhere off the Suddie Coast due to heavy rainfall and rough waters. Reddy managed to make it to shore at Exmouth, Essequibo Coast on Sunday afternoon and was subsequently admitted to the Suddie Hospital.
When Stabroek News contacted Narine’s sister, Daywantie Narine, the distraught woman was adamant that the body was that of her brother. She said that her relatives, who went to the area to assist in the search, informed her via telephone that the body is that of her brother.
“Deh must know deh family… deh person de find get a missing teeth and burn on he foot wah he de get from engine one time… and meh brother have de same description on he body,” the emotional woman related.
Daywantie said that her brother was a joy and a source of comfort to her. “He used to tek care of me children fu meh… we had a really good relationship… I really miss meh brother because he used to live with meh,” the woman lamented tearfully.
Fourth man
Although yesterday’s edition reported that there were three men missing, this newspaper later learnt that there was a fourth man, identified as Smith, 38, of Lot 126 Da Silva Street, Kitty.
Smith’s relatives said that he left his residence early Saturday morning last but did not say where he was going. Wendy Derothe, the man’s sister, told this newspaper yesterday that she only learnt of her brother’s disappearance from Calford King, the owner of the vessel which the missing crew left on.
The woman said that she made several attempts to contact Smith, a father of two, last Saturday night but to no avail. She added that she did not give up and continued calling the following day. After getting nowhere, she became worried and went to the Meadow Bank Wharf, where she sat for most of the day on Monday hoping that he would return.
Smith’s sister then made a report at the Ruimveldt Police station. “I became very worried, because I only hear about the three other men, so I wanted to know what was happening when the owner said that my brother left with them (the three missing men) too,” she added.
Later, relatives told this newspaper that the search is still on and that they are praying that he will return home.
According to the information reaching this newspaper, several reports were received on Saturday morning about a number of fishermen being attack by pirates sometime between Friday night and early the following morning.
Based on what was reported, the acts of piracy were committed off the coast of the Pomeroon, going to an area called Kamwatta Beach. Six masked pirates, armed with cutlasses and guns, were said to have attacked 15 boats. Up to press time last night police were still looking for the perpetrators.
Based on the accounts of fishermen, the pirates attacked one boat after another stealing fish, fish glue, engines and gasoline and forcing the fishermen onto their vessel.
At some point, about 19 fishermen were locked in the cabin of the pirate’s boat and later brought to the deck where they were beaten. The bandits then fled, leaving them drifting in that vessel.
At dawn, a passing vessel spotted the drifting boat and managed to transport two wounded men to the coast, where they were treated and sent away. The other fishermen on the drifting boat were later rescued by members of the police and coast guard, this newspaper was told.
Sometime later a helicopter mission from the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) spotted sailors drifting in a damaged boat east of the mouth of the Pomeroon River. Sunken boats were also evident. The men were rescued and brought to shore.
Captain of the Toney Two Mahendra Deotadin related that he and his five-member crew were also attacked on Friday some time around 11 am, soon after having lunch. The Golden Fleece, Essequibo Coast man, who was nursing cuts and bruises about the body, said the pirates approached and demanded their valuables. He said the men took away the catch, worth $400,000, seines as well as the fish glue.
The pirates also beat the man and his crew badly before leaving them in their vessel minus the engine.
Another boat captain Ghandharna Dashu, called ‘Key Key’, who estimated his losses to be around $1.7 million, said he knew the pirates were Guyanese from the way they spoke. He had recounted that when the boat transporting the pirates slammed into his, the vessel was so badly damaged that it eventually sank. He said the men destroyed his engine before throwing it overboard but took the other valuables including his catch.
