Police are seemingly making little progress in their investigation into the murder of cambio dealer Totaram Mohotoo and his wife Bhagwattie as an arrest in yet to be made and checks are still being made in areas that could yield vital clues more than 72 hours after the incident occurred.
Contacted yesterday Police Commissioner (ag) Leroy Brumell confirmed that no arrests have been made.
Crime chief Seelall Persaud had told this newspaper earlier in the week that investigators had no surveillance footage since the DVR was destroyed by the fire that had gutted the couple’s home earlier Friday morning last. The Mohotoos had several surveillance cameras on their property.
It had since been revealed that investigators are now in possession of surveillance cameras located on nearby properties and are hoping that they can gather some clues from the footage. Asked about those cameras yesterday Brumell said “they are looking into everything”.
He assured that the investigation will be a comprehensive one.
Post-mortem examinations performed on Monday revealed that Mohotoo called “Beer” and “Fat man”, age 54, died as a result of smoke inhalation compounded by blunt trauma, while Bhagwattie popularly called ‘Dolly’, 48, died of blunt trauma to the back compounded by smoke inhalation.
Police had said in their press release that around 00:35 hours last Friday, the charred remains of Mohotoo called ‘Beer’ and ‘Fat man’ and his wife of Area Q, Turkeyen, East Coast Demerara were found in the bedroom of the upper flat of their home.
Stabroek News had been told by residents that loud explosions sounding like gunshots or squibs were heard and shortly afterwards a security guard started shouting for fire.
After the explosion was heard, a huge hole appeared in the front wall of the house. This newspaper was later told that a gas bottle was the possible cause of that explosion as fragments of the bottle were found in the bedroom. The killer/s had apparently taken it from outside in the yard up to the couple’s bedroom where they used it to make a homemade bomb.
At the time, persons did not know that the couple was home since calls went unanswered. A car belonging to them was parked in the yard.
After fire fighters managed to extinguish the blaze, the badly burnt couple was found on what was once their bed. Mohotoo’s hands were tied behind his back. His wife was lying next to him.
Suspicious cars
It is unclear what progress the police are making to track down two suspicious cars that were seen in the area just before and after explosions were heard.
A security guard in the area had seen a taxi waiting in front of the Lot 22 address, with the driver tooting, for about 15 minutes before the car drove off. It is unclear why the car was there but it is believed that it might have gone there to collect the killer/s but for some reason their plan took longer than expected to be executed.
The second car, a white Mazda bearing a number plate with the PPP series was speeding out of the area moments after the fire had been spotted. The vehicle had tinted windows. Finding this car may also be problematic for investigators as there are hundreds of white Mazda motor cars in the PPP series.
From all indications Mohotoo was the target as his hands were tied behind his back while his wife was found lying next to him. According to relatives the house was apparently ransacked and valuables including jewellery were missing.
