Four persons, including a 12-year-old, are now in police custody in connection with the murder of Nonpareil pensioner Roger Manikam, who was found dead along the Coldingen Railway Embankment, East Coast Demerara, according to Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum.
A quantity of bloodied materials, including clothing which was dumped some distance away from Manikam’s body, was retrieved yesterday after the two men in custody were accompanied by detectives to the site. The materials are currently being analysed for forensic evidence.
The body of Manikam, 65, of Nonpareil, East Coast Demerara, was discovered on Sunday near a drain, some five corners from his house along the Coldingen Embankment Road. There was a chop wound to the back of his head.
A post-mortem examination revealed that he died as a result of brain haemorrhaging due to blunt trauma to head.
Stabroek News was reliably informed that the suspect who transported the body told police investigators that he received call from the other male suspect on Saturday evening and was told that Manikam’s car battery was down and he needed a “jump start.”
As a result he immediately left for the house and when he arrived he was told of the murder plot. He was then taken to the kitchen, where he was shown Manikam’s body on the floor. He also allegedly witnessed one of the man’s daughters cutting a clothes line and wrapping the body with plastic.
He allegedly assisted them in putting the body in the back seat of his vehicle after which he departed and dumped the body. Thereafter, he dumped the bloodied materials, some distance away from where the body was found.
This newspaper was previously told that one of the suspects, after being arrested on Monday, revealed to police the plot to kill the pensioner, who constantly harassed them. According to the source, they allegedly hatched a plan where they went into the kitchen of the house and started to scream in order to lure him there. They were successful in doing so and as Manikam was entering the kitchen, the male suspect allegedly dealt him a blow to his head with an axe.
He collapsed to the ground and subsequently died. They then cut the polythene clothes line in the yard and tied his body after wrapping it in plastic.
