The brother of former MFK Trading owner, Mohamed Khan said that relatives have decided that private DNA testing will be done on the decapitated corpse found in September to determine if it is indeed him.
Khan has been missing since August 21 and though items – a belt and pants, have been positively identified as his belongings, the police say that legally this is not enough to prove positive identification.
Contacted yesterday, Khan’s brother Neeaz, who travelled to Guyana earlier this week to view the body, told Stabroek News
that the police do not want to release the remains. He said that DNA testing will have to be done and the family has decided that they would be doing it given the fact that it could take a very long time to get back the results if the state bears the responsibility.
Asked where the samples will be sent for testing, Neeaz said that that has not yet been decided.
Crime Chief Leslie James had said on Wednesday that he is yet to meet with Khan’s relatives to find out whether they would opt for the state to handle the DNA testing or whether they would want to do it privately. He said that the family can undertake this task on their own once they get permission. The corpse, which was missing the legs–one from the ankle down and the other from the knee down— was found on September 22 at Cumming Lodge. A head, which was in a plastic bag, was found a few feet from the body. After Khan was not heard from, relatives decided to check the remains which are being stored at the Lyken’s Funeral Home.
It was Khan’s wife, who lives in Venezuela, who positively identified a belt and pants found on the corpse as being those of her husband. Pictures had been sent to her by relatives who had viewed the remains at the parlour.
Khan’s sister Bibi Fareema Khan had also expressed certainty that those were the remains of her brother. In addition to the pants and belt, she said the hair on the recovered head as well as missing teeth in areas where Khan wore dental plates, have led her to conclude that it is him.
A mark, which some relatives believe is a gunshot wound, was found in the stomach area of the corpse – in the same area where Khan had sustained a gunshot wound during a failed murder attempt in July. The doctor, according to Bibi could not confirm if it was a gunshot wound given the decomposition of the body.
Relatives strongly believe that a soured business deal is behind Khan’s disappearance. A cousin said that Khan complained to him that he was owed an outstanding balance of $80M for a property he had sold in 2010.
Within recent days, relatives have repeatedly said that Khan’s life was threatened and that they know the identity of the persons who made the threats.
