The badly burnt remains of a city cambio dealer and his wife were early this morning discovered in the bedroom of their gutted home and authorities are treating their deaths as suspicious.
Confirmed dead are Totaram Mohotoo called “Beer” and “Fat man” age 54 and Bhagmattie Mohotoo called “Dolly” age 48 of Area Q, Turkeyen, East Coast Demerara. The couple lived alone as their two children reside abroad.
When the fire was spotted around midnight, no one knew that the couple was inside and it was only after the flames were extinguished that the firefighters found the couple’s remains. They were burnt beyond recognition and their bodies were removed from the scene around 10 am. The remains are at the Lyken’s Funeral Home awaiting a post-mortem examination which will give a clear indication as to whether foul play was involved in their deaths.
Police in a press release said that around 0035 hours the couple’s charred remains were found in the bedroom of the upper flat of their home. The release said that the home had been destroyed by “a fire of so far unknown origin” adding that investigations are in progress.
When contacted, Crime Chief Seelall Persaud was unable to provide details about the circumstances surrounding the couple’s death while noting that investigations are ongoing.
Many relatives and friends gathered outside the man’s home as the police and fire officials conducted their investigations and they were heard expressing shock at the incident.
The interior of the two-storey structure was reduced to rubble. There was a huge hole in the front left hand side of the house which residents said was caused by an explosion. It is believed that the couple was killed before their house was set on fire and an explosive device placed inside.
Ranks at the scene said that it was too early in the investigations to form any conclusions about what might have transpired. This newspaper was told that there was no smell of gasoline in the house. One rank commented that it was heat that blasted the hole in the wall of the couple’s bedroom. That wall is the only section of the house that is badly damaged.
Residents opined that though the heat was intense it would not have been enough to blast a hole of that size in the wall. They were adamant that some sort of device exploded in the house.
As the bodies were being removed there were teary eyes and wails erupted among the relatives who had gathered. One neighbour commented that she only saw the woman yesterday (Thursday) when she went to buy broom from the ‘broom lady’.
One resident recalled that around midnight loud sounds like ‘gunshots or squibs’ erupted and shortly after a security guard at a nearby house started shouting for ‘fire! Fire!’. The resident said that when they looked up initially nothing was seen but then when they looked in the other direction, thick smoke was coming from the side of the house where the couple’s bedroom is located.
The resident said that the couple’s car was parked in the yard and a 4×4 vehicle was parked outside on the parapet. The 4×4 the resident recalled “start up by itself” like if someone had turned it on. After efforts were made to contact the couple and there was no response, it was concluded that the couple was not home as it was recalled that sometime earlier a taxi was blowing its horn in front of the house for some time before it drove off.
The resident told this newspaper that between 5 to 10 minutes after the fire was first spotted there was a loud explosion and it was initially believed that a gas bottle had exploded.
By this time persons started jumping the fence and trying to break the lock on the gate to get the car out of the yard.
The resident said that fire engines were on the scene 10 -15 minutes after the fire started and the three tenders that responded had an adequate water supply to fight the blaze.
Suspicious car
Shiek Yassin who described himself as a close friend of the couple said that he was at a bar along University Road when around 00 35 hours he heard “two gunshots”. He said that about two and a half minutes later a big explosion was heard followed by “fire in the air”.
According to the man since he was about 30 seconds away he decided to “drive across’ to see what was happened and when he arrived in the area, he found his friends’ house engulfed in flames.
Yassin told reporters that he jumped the fence. The man said that he managed to climb onto the roof of a shed that is attached to the house. While trying to break a window, he cut his wrist which later required 11 stitches.
He said that after seeking medical attention at the hospital he returned to the scene and went into the house and found the couple lying in their bedroom on their bed. The man said that heading into the area after hearing the explosion, he saw a white car with dark tint and which had a number plate in the PPP series driving out.
According to Yassin, the couple never expressed any fears for their safety to him.
Meanwhile Bhagmattie’s sister, Sandra Ramjit said that she received the news of the fire sometime before 1 am and when she arrived the house was on fire. She said that she was unable to “get in” because the firemen were working. She said that from outside she began shouting her sister’s call name but she couldn’t hear anything. “All I heard is this is a crime scene. This is a crime scene business”, she recalled adding that it was at this point that she suspected that people had died in the house.
She praised the firemen for their efforts. “It was a big blaze and they worked well. They did their job. They had water and everything”, she said.
According to the woman, people are saying that they heard gunshots and explosions. She said that she can’t say what might have happened while noting that “it is so fishy. It ain’t sound right because if you are in your room and fire hit you, you must run and if you run to the door and there is smoke and if you fall down you must fall by the step or the chair…but they were lying in bed”.
The ex-police officer said that later one of her nephews went into the house and he came out crying. She said that he told them that he saw the bodies, which was confirmation that the couple who have been married for at least 31 years, had died.
She too said that her sister was never fearful about anything.
