Three persons have been taken into police custody in connection with the murder of Port Mourant businessman Rampersaud Shivcharan on Sunday night.
Shivcharan called ‘Rakesh,’ 41, of Lot 1C Ankerville, Port Mourant, Corentyne, was shot dead sometime around 7 pm, by three men who invaded his shop.
A police release said Shivcharan was in his shop when two armed men entered the premises. The release said, “The men approached Shivcharan and a scuffle ensued during which he was shot to his chest and the men escaped.” He was taken to the Port Mourant Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. The attack occurred during a seven-hour power outage in sections of the Corentyne.
Stabroek News gathered that at the time of the incident, the man was tending to a customer in the shop. Information revealed that Shivcharan had left the shop counter and gone to the refrigerator to retrieve an item for the customer, when the men entered. Shivcharan had moved to stop them from going further and thus scuffled with them. Stabroek News learnt that when the men invaded the business entity, they had chased away the customers.
Shivcharan, who was co-proprietor of Debbie’s Grocery and Wholesale Liquor shop, had instructed his two children aged 8 and 9 to hide, reports said. The children reportedly hid in the storage room and after the bandits escaped they went to a neighbour’s home.
Neighbours who heard the loud noise thought it was because of the storm. However, others who were alerted by the customers ordered to leave the shop, rushed to the scene. Police were summoned.
A senior police source said yesterday that during investigations they received conflicting information from family members and even though the house was ransacked, a number of valuables and cash were visible. As a result they are still investigating a possible motive for Shivcharan’s murder.
The source explained further that relatives of Shivcharan believe his death was planned and pointed fingers at his wife Devi Rampersaud (Debbie) who was abroad at the time of the incident. The relatives told investigators that Shivcharan and his wife had recurring disputes.
However, the wife, who co-owns the business entity, arrived back in Guyana early yesterday morning and told investigators that her union with husband was a good one.
The grieving wife told the media yesterday that during the course of Sunday night she received a call from her sister who told her Shivcharan had been shot and a follow-up phone call informed her of his passing. She lamented that on a few occasions threats had been made to her family by a businessman who made large purchases after he was asked to settle the debt he had racked up.
She added that they had been robbed several times but when they contacted the police, they never responded as expected. The woman said she even took surveillance footage to the police but no one was ever arrested.
Shivcharan’s mother, Chitra Shivcharan, related to this publication that she and her husband are currently on vacation and were staying at a nearby home when they got the message. The woman stated that her son would have celebrated his 42nd birthday yesterday and had she known he would have died she would have visited him more often during her vacation.
A post-mortem examination is to be performed during the week.
Shivcharan is survived by his three children, wife, parents and siblings.
