A member of the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) is now in custody after a hit and run on Sunday night along the De Kinderen Public Road, West Coast Demerara, left a man dead.
Shameer Mangal, 57, of De Kinderen, is believed to have been pitched into a drain after the collision, which occurred about 9.30 pm as he was walking home.
Police, in a statement, said investigations have revealed that Mangal was walking along the roadway when he was struck down by a motor vehicle that was driven away from the scene. Mangal was subsequently pronounced dead on arrival at the Leonora Cottage Hospital.
Safraz Mangal said his father would hang out at his relative’s Chinese restaurant and would then use the old road to walk home. He related that he was surprised when he heard about his father being hit, especially because the man never uses the public road to go home.
A resident said that the first individuals on the scene after the accident thought it was an animal floating in a drain and that they were shocked when they discovered who it was. Another resident at the scene related that when Shameer was pulled out of the drain, “he breathe lil bit and then he dead.”
Safraz related that when he visited the Leonora Police Station, he was told by ranks that they had the assailant in custody. He was told that the vehicle which was involved in the accident was found abandoned at the Bushy Park beach. According to him, the police further stated that a badge was recovered from the vehicle identifying the CANU personnel and that the damaged parts of the vehicle matched materials found at the scene.
Two CANU members also visited Safraz yesterday and offered him condolences. He said that they informed him that their “boss was not around” and that they would keep in contact with him.
Referring to his father, Safraz opined that the driver just “hit him and throw him in the drain.” He believed that if the driver had stopped and helped his father, he would have lived.
