In the space of three weeks, pirates may have murdered as many as nine fishermen at sea but there has been no urgency by the government or the joint services in solving these crimes or preventing recurrences.
What is clear is that fisherfolk, particularly those in the Corentyne area, are fed up with the situation and what they have described as the inaction of the police on repeated occasions.
From the two most recent suspected cases there has been only one survivor, who has related a harrowing ordeal that has left more questions than answers for some. Three decomposed bodies have been recovered while six are missing and are feared dead. There have been at least two reports of bodies being spotted but they have not been recovered.
The relatives of the missing have already concluded that the men are dead and that their bodies may never be recovered.
Based on the information provided, on July 9th a boat with five fishermen was attacked in Surinamese waters. Salim Feroze Hack, the captain of a boat managed to survive. The empty boat had washed up at De Hoop, Mahaica. Three days later the body of one of the crew members, Andrew Gopie, 41, of Annandale, East Coast Demerara, washed up at the foreshore at Mahaicony. Still missing are Vinesh Drunarine called ‘Dinesh’ and ‘Monkey Brain,’ 24, of Uitvlugt, West Coast Demerara; Raymond Gomes, 37; and Chandrapaul Jallim, 19, both of Recht-door-zee, West Bank Demerara.
Hack had related that it was around 10pm on July 8, after they had lifted their seine and eaten dinner, that he and the crew heard a boat sailing behind theirs. He related that after that, the approaching boat hit into them from behind, breaking off one of the engines. The man, who had visibly injuries when he was interviewed by this newspaper a day after he arrived in Guyana, added that the attacking boat pulled up alongside his vessel and three pirates armed with cutlasses jumped into their boat.
He said that the pirates ordered them into the cabin and started chopping them while ordering them to keep their eyes on the ground. Hack said that the pirates carried them one by one out of the cabin and tied their hands. Drunarine’s finger, according to him, was severed after he looked up.
Hack said they lay on the ground for nearly two hours before the pirates started to unload their cargo and possessions. He said that this included trout, snapper, two drums of gas, a GPS, a compass and cellphones.
It was after that, he noted, that they were sent over to the pirates’ boat. The pirates then cut the boat from the anchor and left it to drift, he related, while noting that the boat drifted to the west. He said they drove for another 45 minutes, clearing about four miles before they were ordered to stand up and were then thrown off the pirate’s boat.
According to him, he was the third person to hit the water and when he fell overbroad he unknotted the rope around his hands and swam to his crewmen. He said that he saw three of them but he did not see Drunarine. “I tell them that we gotta swim to the dam but they were hollering, ‘Oh God we gon dead!’” he said.
At that time, one of the pirates flashed a light in their faces and slowed his boat, turning it around. “He started spinning the boat around us for some time…I don’t know if it hit any of them but after that I didn’t see back anybody,” he said. Hack said that he averaged that they were about fifteen minutes away from shore.
He said that he was in so much pain he was unable to swim so he balanced himself and the tide started to push him to shore. He recalled feeling his flesh being pierced by fish bites and when he caught himself he had reached a place in Coppename called Bun Bush, which is Suriname’s jurisdiction. It would appear that he then fell unconscious and when he woke up several hours later he pushed himself to get up and find help. He found a boat and the crew gave him clothes, water and food.
He was taken to a police station in Suriname and six days of rigorous searching began but nothing was found. During this time, he made contact with the boat owner and his relatives. The boat owner made a report to the police here about what Hack had told him.
The second suspected attack occurred sometime between July 10 and July 25. The decomposing bodies of Omesh Durhup, 36, of Skeldon and Naresh Persaud, 22, of Number 72 Village were found on the foreshore in Bush Lot.
Still missing are the captain Deownanan ‘Rajesh’ Ravindranauth, of Crabwood Creek, Persaud’s brother Ramesh Persaud, 19, of Number 72 Village, and another man known, only, as Prakash. The boat the men had left in for their voyage was discovered on the Whim foreshore two days before the bodies were spotted. Two caps belonging to the two Persaud brothers were in the boat. The fish from the fish pen, a diesel drum, the seine, groceries and a stove were gone. The engine, however, remained intact. No one knows what transpired on that boat.
Durhup’s mother found her son with a piece of black cloth had been tied over his eyes.
When Persaud was found, his shirt was pulled over his head and his body was in an advance state of decomposition. Ravindranauth and his crew were expected to be at sea for 11 days.
They are gone
Recently distraught family members told Stabroek News that given the amount of time that has passed, they do not expect the men’s bodies to be found. They said that considering the circumstances surrounding their disappearance, they believe that the men are dead.
Kumar Persaud the father of the two brothers said that it pains him to have to lose his sons in such a way as he worked “hard pon sea to mine dem when they motha left.” The woman died when the brothers were very young. He said that it is still unclear what exactly transpired but based on the fact that the boat was found minus the catch and the seine, he is convinced that pirates killed his sons and the other crew members and threw their bodies overboard. He said that the things that pirates go after, fish and glue, are missing. He said that the pirates would not steal the boat and engine because they can get caught with that. However, he said that the other items can be easily sold.
The man said that police keep calling them to give statements but he doesn’t see much sense in that because he is yet to find his other son, who is missing and more than likely may never find him. He said that what police should be doing is patrolling the river and searching for the bodies of the missing men.
“We need patrolling,” he said before adding that the “police are slack.” He came to this conclusion based on the belief that when pirates are handed over to the police ranks, they are released. “You gotta give them man life sentences, 25 to 30 years,” he stressed before reiterating that an “a lot of slackness” is happening at the police stations along the Corentyne.
He said that during the time he spent at sea, he had never been a victim of piracy. He said that fishermen have to understand that “you to wuk not sleep” and he added that on his vessel someone is always awake and on the lookout and at the first sign of trouble the engine is started.
A sad Persaud said that all he can do now is keep a wake in memory of his dead son and the one that is missing. He said that the search for the missing men has ended.
Meanwhile, a relative of Gomes stated that they have stopped going to the police as every time they go they are being told that there is nothing that could be done and that it was an act of piracy. According to the relative, even though the case has the appearance of a pirate attack, the family still believes that there is more to it because of the inconsistent stories being told by the lone survivor. The relative questioned why the pirates would leave anyone alive.
According to the relative, there needs to be some patrolling of the river to decrease the chances of future attacks. “The authorities should get serious,” the relative said, adding that many lives are being lost and families are being left in distress. The relative also told this newspaper that it is now time for the two governments to sit down and discuss this issue.
In April, three fishing vessels were attacked in the Corentyne River. The masked pirates, who were armed with guns, cutlasses and pieces of wood, pounced on the crew members and relieved them of a quantity of fish and fish glue, gasoline and other items. They also cut the seines and damaged the engines of the v\fishing boats before escaping. The crews were left to drift until they were rescued by passing fishermen.
According to Stabroek News’ records, in February a Guyanese fishing crew in Coronie, Suriname were attacked. The catch as well as a “cross bar,” valued at $18,000, an engine lead worth $14,500 as well as a battery that cost about $29,000 were taken during the attack.
In October last year, there had been no sighting of Corentyne fishermen Rakesh Persaud, called ‘Pork Soup,’ and Rajin Ramsammy, 22, called ‘Kishan,’ who were tied up and tossed overboard by pirates who had attacked their boat and another in the Corentyne River. Seven other fishermen survived the attacks.
In September last year, there were a number of reported attacks in the Pomeroon River and the Waini coastal area. Several suspected pirates were later nabbed with the stolen booty during a raid in the North West District.
Over the years there have been dozens of alleged attacks. In a few of the cases the victims were rescued from drifting boats and from the water. The bulk of the attacks occur in the Corentyne River and the Pomeroon area.
