A badly decomposed body suspected to be that of a missing fisherman from the April 27th piracy attack, yesterday washed up on the Number 63 Beach, Corentyne, Berbice.
The body was identified by relatives from a photograph of a tattoo, as being that of Gavin Outar, 33, originally from Sheet Anchor Village, East Canje Berbice. Outar is believed to have been on one of the boats attacked on April 27th and has not been seen since.
The police, acting on information received, made the discovery minutes before 1 pm yesterday.
Stabroek News was told that the badly decomposed body was found clothed in deep-blue short pants and with an identifiable tattoo on the left-side of the chest.
Outar’s aunt, Sunita Hussain, 40, last evening told this newspaper that a relative saw the picture of the tattoo on social media and contacted her. She said the family will be heading from Diamond to Berbice today to make a formal identification of the body at the mortuary.
Hussein further explained that Outar has been living and working in Suriname for over four years.
“He brother been a hustle get passport to go over and give (DNA) for the bodies over there but he did getting a hard time at passport office and he say he go go back tomorrow morning and we see the picture now,” the aunt said last evening.
The family noted that while they were still hopeful that Outar would have been found alive, they are grateful that now they can properly carry out his last rites once he is identified.
Commander of B Division Lyndon Alves, had noted yesterday that the police had launched a broad investigation.
When Stabroek News made contact with Alves yesterday, relatives had not yet identified the tattoo as belonging to Outar, as the picture had not yet been released.
Alves had said that the idea that the body could be that of a fisherman from the recent piracy attacks was being considered. He had noted also that missing persons reports were also being checked out.
The Commander noted that Dr. Vivekanand Bridgemohan, who was present at the scene where the body was discovered yesterday, stated that the body was beyond a state where an autopsy could be conducted. The body is presently at a local mortuary.
On Wednesday, Stabroek News reported that the brother of the missing boat captain in the second piracy attack was calling on the authorities in Guyana to launch a search in the Corentyne River, after he had heard reports that a body was spotted aback of the Number 36 Village, Corentyne.
The man, Ganeshram Beechan, had also said that he heard that fisherfolk were afraid to report the supposed body to the police since they might be caught up in the ongoing investigation.
However, he had noted that it would not hurt the authorities to make a few searches in the river, at a few points which are used by fishermen to head to Suriname from the Corentyne Coast.
Beechan stressed again yesterday, his belief that the authorities in Guyana should be searching on their end as well.
On April 27, pirates attacked four boats carrying a total of 20 persons just off the Suriname Coast. It was reported that each boat was occupied by five persons, comprising the captain and four fishermen.
The pirates, reportedly armed with cutlasses and guns, chopped and beat the fishermen before robbing them.
It had been reported that some of the men were ordered to jump overboard with their injuries, while others were thrown overboard with batteries strapped to their legs.
However, four men who survived the attack, swam until they were rescued by passing vessels and last week, one survivor was found. Three other bodies have also since been recovered.
Law enforcers on both sides of the Corentyne River believe that the savage attacks were reprisals for the killing of a Guyanese businessman in Suriname on Good Friday this year.
