An attempt was made early yesterday morning to torch a building that was owned by slain Pest Control Plus boss Mohammed Baksh, who was gunned down in an execution-style shooting a week ago.
Fire Chief Marlon Gentle confirmed that person/s set fire to the Prashad Nagar building in seven places. He said the fire occurred sometime around 2am and the Fire Service received the first report nine minutes later and dispatched two fire tenders and a tanker to the location, which housed an office, a showroom and a storage bond.
Fire-fighters managed to contain the blaze to the building, which housed the bond on the bottom flat and an office on the upper flat. There was an adequate supply of water to fight the blaze, he noted.
There was damage to the front of the building and its interior and Gentle revealed that based on initial investigations, it appeared that the fire was deliberately set. “The fire was set on wooden pallets at the front, back and side of the yard, on the patios and persons broke windows at the top and bottom flats and set fire in the building,” he said.
According to Mohammed Bacchus, brother of the deceased man, family members rushed to the scene of the fire after receiving a call early yesterday morning. “This is the office and showroom and also some storage and the only person who will know the value of what was in here is the boss who is dead,” Bacchus said, while noting that the response from the Fire Service was very good. Bacchus stated that he was the last person to leave the office, when he departed at about 4:30pm on Wednesday. He said only one light was on at the time of his departure. He noted that the building had an alarm system but he was unsure if it was working and if it went off during the early morning.
Baksh, also known as Mohammed Shahabudeen Bacchus, was shot around 10 pm last Friday at a grill on Thomas Street, in the city, during an attack by two armed men.
He sustained two gunshot wounds to the head and one to the hand.
He died at the Georgetown Public Hospital while being prepared for emergency surgery the following day.
Crime Chief Seelall Persaud earlier this week confirmed that police had detained a businessman. However, when contacted yesterday, Persaud told this newspaper that the detained businessman had been released early yesterday morning on station bail.
He added that there is no new information as it relates to the motive for murdering the businessman and no one else has been held.
