La Jalousie businessman Ganesh Ramlall was gunned down yesterday morning at his premises in what seemed to be a `hit’
Ramlall, 48, the owner of the Regent Multi Complex Mall, on Regent and Wellington streets had just returned home after midnight and was about to enter from a rear entrance after using a washroom, when he was attacked by three men, Basdeo, a relative said.
The West Coast Demerara businessman, according to Basdeo, upon sight of the armed men, raised an alarm and called out to his relatives to secure the house as he began to shout “Bandit! Bandit!”
After the gunmen realized that the alarm raised by Ramlall might have caught the attention of neighbours and relatives, they began to fire bullets at their target, hitting Ramlall several times about his body and head. The three men then made a clean getaway.
Basdeo said that contact was made with the police who showed up about two hours after the call was made.
The body of the businessman was transported by his brother and neighbours to the West Demerara Regional Hospital where he was officially pronounced dead.
Another relative who was at home at the time said that she heard when Ramlall began to shout and afterwards about seven gunshots were fired.
After the men escaped and relatives ventured out of the house, the lifeless body of Ramlall was discovered close to the rear entrance of the bottom flat of the two-storey house, lying in a pool of blood.
There were visible indentations on the door of the washroom, created by the bullets fired at the businessman. The bandits took a gold chain and bracelet that Ramlall was wearing, while they left behind his licensed firearm, a relative said.
A neighbour said that he also heard the gunshots and upon looking out saw three men running before they escaped on bicycles.
Relatives said that they were not aware of any motive for the killing since there was no prior grievance known to them.
“We don’t know of any problem he had with anybody…if robbery was the motive, or what is the reason… he was a very jovial person and will talk with everybody,” a relative said.
“We don’t know if these men been tracing him when he coming home or what…the place was quiet and we didn’t hear no strange noise or no indication of anything except when he start shout fuh thief,” Ramlall’s relative added.
There was no CCTV camera installed on Ramlall’s house, Basdeo said. He added that it was unclear as to the exact location of the gunmen at the time they ambushed the businessman since the man’s yard is surrounded by a concrete fence.
The police in a release stated that Ramlall was attacked at about 00:10hrs by four men who shot him and escaped with his jewellery and firearm.
Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum said last evening that the police are still in the process of gathering information. Commander of ‘D’ division Stephen Mansell also said that an investigation into the matter has been launched but no arrest has yet been made.
Ramlall is survived by his wife Monica and daughter Sharmila.
Ramlall came to public notice in December 2008 when a new four-storey shopping complex located at the corner of Regent and Wellington streets was officially declared open.
In January, 2009 he was one of three persons charged with the theft of a Guyana Power and Light Inc transformer which had been found on the premises of the mall.
In June 2011, Magistrate Fazil Azeez dismissed the case based on the insufficiency of evidence as a result of the failure of the prosecution to call key witnesses.
At the launching of the mall, Ramlall had said business had started for him 20 years earlier when he began trading foodstuff from Berbice to Leonora.
He then moved his business to Curacao where he sold products to various businesses. Ramlall also traded out of Panama and the United States.
After three years of this with his wife, the couple opened a stall in the Stabroek Market and then in 2008 – some nine years after they moved to the Market, while driving down Regent Street, Ramlall saw the land where the mall was built up for sale and later purchased it.
