Mahadeo Ramdial, 43, the boat captain who was thrown into the Corentyne River after reportedly being broadsided to the head with a cutlass during a pirate attack last Tuesday, died from drowning, an autopsy has found.
Commander of ‘B’ Division Ian Amsterdam confirmed the findings of the examination to Stabroek News and noted that there was no visible wound on Ramdial’s head.
Amsterdam further related that investigators are still questioning the two survivors to ascertain what exactly happened out at sea last Tuesday evening.
Relatives of the dead man, who say the survivors’ story “did not add up,” have called on the police to thoroughly investigate the man’s death so as to determine exactly what happened out at sea on the night of the reported attack.
Ramdial, called ‘Chico,’ of Lot 146 Kilcoy Squatting Area, along with the two other fishermen, Arjune Permaul, 45, also of Kilcoy Squatting Area, and Parmanand Nandan, 21, of Lot 103 Tain Settlement, Corentyne, left to go fishing in the Corentyne River from the Albion foreshore Monday afternoon.
However on Tuesday, around 6 pm, the survivors said two men in a boat, who were armed with cutlasses, launched an attack on them.
Ramdial and his crew were robbed of their 40 hp Yamaha engine, which is valued close to $900,000. The fishermen were then taken aboard their attackers’ boat while their fishing boat, ‘Vuruni 4,’ was left to sail away on the river.
Permaul, a father of one, had told Stabroek News that the men subsequently ordered the crew members to jump into the water. “Them say them go chop abie if we na jump over board,” he recounted.
He explained that he and Nandan immediately jumped overboard but Ramdial was hesitant and stayed on board. “The captain na jump. Them take the cutlass and knock the captain from he head, broadside am, one hard knock,” he added.
He said the men then turned around their boat and tossed Ramdial overboard, after which they drove away.
Permaul told Stabroek News that they decided to swim to shore, as at that time it was the only option they had. However, he said as they were swimming, Ramdial began complaining about the pain from his head injury. Arjune claimed that he took him on his shoulders to assist him but Ramdial at that point was no longer able to hold on to him. He said Ramdial told them to swim ahead and he would slowly follow.
Permaul and Nandan said they kept calling on him and he would answer but they then noted that on their fourth call he did not respond. They said they looked back and Ramdial was gone.
The duo then swam until they found a vessel anchored some 100 feet away from the foreshore, next to the Port Mourant channel, around 8.30 pm. They said they tugged on the ropes until the fishermen on said boat, who are also now being questioned by police, woke up and assisted them. They were brought to the shore where they visited the police station and filed a report.
In the wee hours of Wednesday morning, a group of fishermen from the Corentyne Area, launched a search in an effort to find Ramdial. The Vuruni 4 and the fishing seine was discovered along the Albion, Corentyne foreshore on Wednesday morning, while on Wednesday afternoon they discovered Ramdial’s lifeless body at the Rose Hall, Corentyne, foreshore.
Ramdial was a father of two sons with his wife of 20 years.
