The body of a 76-year-old former police officer, who was missing for a few days, was found floating in a canal at D’Urban Back-lands yesterday morning.
The body of Cyril Persaud, who resided in Atlantic Ville, East Coast Demerara, was discovered by persons who reside in the area and use the canal to bathe and swim. When Stabroek News arrived at the scene, police officers were already there awaiting the arrival of workers from the Lyken’s funeral home to remove the body which had already begun decomposing.
Clothing along with an Old Age pension book with the name ‘Cyril Nova Persaud’ were found just a few feet away from where the body was discovered. Relatives had posted on social media on January 11th that Persaud had been missing for two days.
Undertakers from the Lyken’s funeral home along with crime scene investigators later arrived at the scene and removed the body. It was subsequently revealed that there was a wound to the face.
According to family members, Persaud went missing last Wednesday and they had filed reports with the police but had not gotten any word until yesterday when they were contacted to identify the body.
Persaud’s younger brother Peter Brahmdeo positively identified the body to be that of his sibling. Brahmdeo said that it had been three months since he had seen his brother but he made reports to the police after Persaud’s adopted son told him that he had not returned home.
“His adopted son came to me on Friday and told me that he hasn’t come home and
this is what urged me to go to Sparendaam and get the police to search and inquire. We’ve been running at the police from Friday, Saturday then Sunday we got this news that the police have discovered this body somewhere in D’Urban Backlands which I positively identified,” he related.
Brahmdeo said when he identified Persaud, he noticed that his face was swollen and said he suspects foul play was involved. “His face swollen. It appears to me that he was beaten and had to be taken out of that district cause normally he goes with his bicycle but he leave his bicycle home and he walked so he could not have gone far from his home, somebody had to take him there,” the man asserted.
“He is a pensioner, he likes to have his little drink but he don’t go out of bounds, he does be within the area of Atlantic Ville. He was a former policeman at the mounted branch. Basically he very quiet, he’s not no aggressive individual, peaceful,” said Brahmdeo when asked to describe his brother.
The family is awaiting the results of an autopsy which will be conducted during the week.
