Three men, who were arrested for the pirate attack that claimed the life of boat captain Mahadeo Ramdial last week, have confessed to the crime, in which they stole $3,000 in fish as well as a boat engine, according to Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum.
Blanhum yesterday said the three suspects, who were identified as ‘Rambo,’ 51, a fisherman of Rose Hall, Corentyne; his brother, ‘Davo,’ 57, of Portuguese Quarter, Port Mourant; and ‘Antenna,’ 38, a fisherman also of Rose Hall, Corentyne, are to be charged soon.
Stabroek News was told that the members of the Guyana Police Force’s Major Crimes Unit that learned from the men that it was ‘Rambo’ and ‘‘Antenna’ who carried out the attack on Ramdial and his crew, Arjune Permaul and Parmanand Nandan.
‘Rambo,’ who was allegedly armed with a cutlass, hit the side of their boat and informed Ramdial and his crew that it was a “hold up.” The victims were robbed of six fish, valued at about $3000. ‘Rambo’ then allegedly ordered that the men to take out their boat engine and place it in his boat, after which he told them to jump overboard or he would kill them.
Permaul previously related to this newspaper that he and Nandan immediately jumped overboard but Ramdial was hesitant and stayed on board. He said the men then tossed Ramdial overboard.
Permaul and Nandan were subsequently rescued by ‘Davo,’ who was out at sea at the same time. They were unable to locate the body of Ramdial, which was recovered the following day.
The two men related to ‘Davo’ what transpired. Subsequently, ‘Antenna’ learnt that ‘Davo’ rescued the duo and he told him that he and ‘Rambo’ were the ones who carried out the attack.
‘Davo’ reportedly then assisted them in hiding the stolen engine in order to cover up the crime. ‘Rambo’ was taken into custody shortly after the attack, while ‘Davo’ and ‘Antenna’ were arrested on Monday. The police were granted additional time to keep ‘Rambo.’
Ramdial, called ‘Chico,’ of Lot 146 Kilcoy Squatting Area, along with Permaul, 45, also of Kilcoy Squatting Area and Nandan, 21, of Lot 103 Tain Settlement, Corentyne, left to go fishing in the Corentyne River from the Albion foreshore last Monday afternoon. However on Tuesday, around 6 pm, the two 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.
After the three fishermen had been forced overboard, Permaul said 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.
In the wee hours last 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 Ramdial’s lifeless body at the Rose Hall, Corentyne, foreshore.
Investigators are expected to visit the scene today in company of the suspects to carry out further investigations.
