An elderly shopkeeper was discovered dead yesterday afternoon in his Triumph, East Coast Demerara house, where he was found with his hands bound and a wound to his head in what is suspected to be a robbery.
Dead is Dhroowah Ramnauth, popularly known as ‘Uncle Drup,’ 88, of Lot 119 Surat Drive, Triumph.
Ramnauth’s lifeless body was discovered in the kitchen of his two-storey house sometime between 3 pm and 5 pm yesterday by a neighbour.
There was a wound to the right side of his head and a ‘masala brick,’ which is believed to have been used to strike Ramnauth, was found next to his body. The man’s hands were tied behind his back and his mouth was tied with a rag.
After the discovery, the police were immediately summoned.
Up to press time yesterday, investigators were able to establish that both the upper flat of the house and the shop were ransacked, but it was unclear if any valuables were missing.
When Stabroek News arrived at the scene, Ramnauth’s relatives and neighbours had gathered.
Villagers, who described Ramnauth as an easygoing person, expressed anger at the manner in which he was killed.
They recalled last seeing him alive yesterday morning, when he opened his shop as per normal. Neighbours said it was usual for him to close his shop at midday and reopen at 3 pm every day.
“They didn’t had to kill he so…. He didn’t deserve this. He is human,” one villager said.
Sachin Singh, the neighbour who made the discovery, recounted that he and a worker were loading a truck in his yard when he called out for Ramnauth but he got no answer.
As a result, he said he ventured over to Ramnauth’s house.
“…Meh try calling Uncle Drup but me ain’t get no response from he. So, after he ain’t respond, I went across. I just call he and didn’t get no response. So, after that me decide fuh jump over the fence. After dah me watch in the shop, me see the shop ransacked and when I watch in the kitchen, I see he tie up and lay down on the ground,” Singh related.
He said he alerted other neighbours and they contacted the police.
Meanwhile, Baliram Shivdas, the dead man’s nephew, told this newspaper that Ramnauth was attacked about a year ago.
Shivdas said in that attack, bandits broke into Ramnauth’s house and tied him up before carting off an undisclosed amount of valuables. He said he last saw Ramnauth on Thursday afternoon when he visited and they had a conversation.
Ramnauth lived alone. His children reside overseas.
