Nitender Oemrawsingh, the Surinamese rice dealer who was killed execution-style in Guyana last week after being linked to the largest drug bust in his country, was previously charged but not convicted in relation to a huge cocaine bust in Suriname.
Several news outlets in Suriname are reporting that Oemrawsingh was arrested in 2011. According to the De Ware Tijd, Head of the Drug Control Unit of the Police Department in Suriname, Inspector Siegfried Starke, has confirmed that Oemrawsingh was previously charged for a drug related offence.
According to the report, Suriname’s Acting Chief of Police, Roberto Prade, confirmed that it was a case involving some 140 kilos of cocaine in late 2010. However, Prade noted that Oemrawsingh was only arrested in April 2011, since he was reportedly in hiding.
Prade also stated that Oemrawsingh was not convicted of the charges filed against him after there was “evidence of contamination.”
According to De Ware Tijd, the man was eventually released by the magistrate who was hearing the matter.
Meanwhile, local police have failed to make any arrest in relation to the January 14 murder. Efforts to contact Commander of B Division, Paul Langevine, yesterday for an update were futile but a police source said that they are still investigating. The source said that they have accessed CCTV footage from the area where the body was discovered and various ports of entries from Suriname to Guyana, but have so far come up empty-handed.
The body of Oemrawsingh, 40, of Corantijn Polder, Nickerie District, Suriname, was found last Monday around 4.30 pm on the Number 63 Beach. He was clad in a blue armless shirt, black trousers, a pair of socks and boots. He had a bullet wound to his forehead.
An autopsy found that he died as a result of shock and hemorrhage due to a gunshot wound and laceration of the brain. A police source had told this newspaper that based on the gunshot injury, it is suspected that a .32 pistol was used to shoot the man straight in the middle of his forehead. He was either pursued from Suriname to Guyana or a contract killer here did the job.
Stabroek News has reported that Oemrawsingh was last seen in Guyana in August of last year. A relative had said that he had been a frequent visitor to Skeldon. According to information gathered, the man was last seen alone in Skeldon in August on a business transaction. The relative said that Oemrawsingh would often visit Skeldon alone.
Surinamese media last Wednesday reported that at least 2,300 kilogrammes (5,070 pounds) of cocaine had been found. In an interview with local radio station ABC, Prosecutor General Roy Baidjnath Panday declined to confirm the exact amount, but said it was likely “well above a thousand to at least two thousand” kilogrammes, Reuters had reported.
News agencies in Suriname reported that the seizure was made at the Jules Sedney Port in Paramaribo, after the discovery was made by the port security during one of their routine control checks.
According to a source in Suriname, nine persons had been arrested in connection with the bust.
Oemrawsingh’s lawyer, Irvin Kanhai, had told local news that his client, who was wanted for questioning in relation to the drug bust would be turning himself in last Tuesday. However, the man was killed execution-style one day before he could surrender to the authorities.
