A security guard was found dead with his throat slashed early yesterday morning at the Enmore grocery where he was employed.
The body of Rudolph Narine, 60, called ‘Boy’ of F1 Logwood, Enmore, East Coast Demerara, was lying in a pool of blood some time around 6.30 am, outside the R. Ramlagan Grocery Store, when it was discovered.
In addition to injuries about Narine’s body, he was bound and gagged and it is suspected that he was killed after he was confronted by burglars, who broke into the shop through a back window and carted off a quantity of groceries.
Rangiwan Ramlagan recalled leaving Narine, who started working for him two weeks ago, at the Lot 34 Logwood grocery some time around 5.30 pm on Friday. When Ramlagan returned yesterday morning to re-open the store, he did not see the guard. When he called out for him, he got no answer, he further recalled.
“Meh call fuh Boy he nah answer me, so when me open the gate me see he lie down in a pool ah blood with he throat slash,” Ramlagan said, adding that upon making the gruesome discovery he summoned the police, who arrived promptly.
In a statement yesterday, police said Narine was found with injuries to the head and throat, while his mouth was gagged and his feet were tied. Police also said the store was broken into and articles were stolen.
Ramlagan told Stabroek News that an inspection of the store revealed that a rear window and grill had been removed and a person or persons had gained entry into the building. Investigators believe that Narine was confronted and killed before the breakage occurred in the wee hours of the morning. The murder weapon was not found at the scene.
Ramlagan believed Narine may have known the burglar(s), who killed him to guard their identity.
Narine’s grieving wife, Champa Allicock, said that she received the news of his death around 7am. She soon travelled to the scene, where she saw her husband’s body lying face down in a pool of blood. Allicock said Narine, who worked all his life as a labourer, was the sole breadwinner for the family. She described him as a humble person, who had no enemies.
The visibly distraught Allicock added that her husband did not deserve to die in such a brutal manner and she called on the police to investigate thoroughly so that the perpetrator(s) could be brought to justice. Like the storeowner, Narine’s family members also suspect that he knew his attacker(s) and this was why he was killed.
A businesswoman living near the grocery, who asked not to be named, told this newspaper that she heard nothing strange during the night. She suspected that Narine may have been murdered some time after 10 pm, when she closed her doors. The woman was shocked by the murder and said that she spoke to the guard just an hour before she closed, when he visited her shop to make a purchase.
Narine’s murder is the second to have rocked the Logwood, Enmore community in just over a week. On May 3, the bound and bloodied body of Diamond Housing Scheme taxi driver Rajendra Puran was found in a drain at Logwood. Police believe that Puran, who died as a result of strangulation and blunt trauma to the head, may have been killed elsewhere and his body dumped in the community. Police have since been searching for “known” associates of the man as part of the investigation.
