The first sixteen days of 2016 recorded ten confirmed murder cases but because of the brutal and well-planned nature of some of those crimes and the fact that most occurred in one police division, it appeared as though that number had surpassed the total recorded for the same period last year.
The figures compiled by Stabroek News for the period January 1 to 16, 2015 show that there was one less murder when compared to the same period this year. The majority of the victims for both periods were males. Most of the victims had been stabbed to death; the others were shot, beaten and burnt to death.
Numbers for this year show that six of the ten murders occurred in ‘B’ Division (Berbice) and Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan says that it is the renewed confidence in the police which in part has led to breakthroughs and charges being laid.
Ten minutes into the new year, Crabwood Creek resident Asil Hafeez was fatally stabbed by another man during a confrontation.
Police had said that the 24-year-old man was drinking with another man at Crabwood Creek, when an argument ensued between them, following which he was stabbed in the neck. Hafeez was rushed to the Skeldon Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
Around 2.15pm, Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara carpenter Ganesh Ramlakhan, of