Within the last two months, there have been four execution-style killings, three of which remain unsolved.
On the penultimate day of last year, Canada-based Sean Allister O’Brien Greene was gunned down in front of a city hotel.
Less than two weeks after, Nitender Oemrawsingh, a suspect in Suriname’s biggest drug bust, was found at the Number 63 Beach, in Berbice, with a gunshot wound to his head.
Exactly one week after, taxi driver Kelvin Walters was gunned down in full view of his wife and daughter along the Eccles Public Road, East Bank Demerara.
Just over a week after, Crabwood Creek cash crop and poultry farmer Deoprakash Lalbachan was fatally stabbed during what was initially suspected to be a robbery at his home. Investigators later ruled out robbery as a motive and said they are treating his death as a possible “hit.”
Police believe they have solved Walters’ murder and two men have since been charged.
A police source had previously related to this newspaper that the major challenge investigators are faced with in cracking these cases is insufficient information. “There might be person/persons who were there at the time but why they choose not to come forward remains unknown,” the source had said.
When asked whether fear for their safety was the main factor contributing to the reluctance of witnesses, the police official had said he could not specify, but noted that there are measures in place to deal with such cases, such as the protection of these individuals if necessary.
The source had warned that unless police build stronger relationships with members of the public, there is a strong likehood that such crimes would continue to occur and the perpetrator/s would continue roaming free.
Around 4 am on December 30th last year, Greene, a father of two of Alberttown, Georgetown and Number 78 Village, Springlands, Corentyne, Berbice, was gunned down in front of the Adventure Suites Hotel on Forshaw Street, in Queenstown.
The police had said that Greene was standing in front of the hotel with others when person(s) unknown approached and discharged rounds at him and fled the scene. He sustained multiple gunshot wounds and was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
Greene, who was a former US marine and lived in the US before migrating to Canada, managed the operations of a family-owned hotel, the Mahogany Hotel and Bar in Springlands.
Following news of Greene’s death, reports surfaced that he was wanted by Canadian lawmen in connection with a murder.
A man, identified by the alias ‘Quarterz’ and who was deemed a “person of interest” in the matter, was arrested and later released after police could not continue holding him without charge.
On the afternoon of January 14th, the body of Oemrawsingh, 40, of Corantijn Polder, Nickerie District, Suriname, was discovered on the Number 63 Beach. He was found with a bullet wound to his forehead.
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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 in the middle of his forehead. It is believed that Oemrawsingh fled to Guyana via the “backtrack” route and must have been followed by his killer or a contract was placed on his life.
Oemrawsingh was reportedly previously seen in Guyana in August of last year.
Days before his death, Oemrawsingh, who was the proprietor of Nivash Rice, a milling company in Suriname, was arrested by Surinamese police following the country’s largest drug bust.
He was last seen in Suriname on January 9th, a day after he was released from police custody.
To date, no arrest has been made in this matter.
Meanwhile on January 22nd, Walters was fatally shot along the Eccles Public Road in the evening while he was on his way home with his family.
Police said Walters, who was travelling south along the eastern carriageway of the road in his car, PXX 1509, with his wife and child at around 7:20 pm, was shot by a man on a motorcycle.
While in the vicinity of the Two Brothers Service Station, the police said, two men on the motorcycle turned in front of Walters’ vehicle and the pillion rider whipped out a handgun and shot him in the face.Nevertheless, Walters managed to hit his assailants with his car. The two men fled. The motorcycle and a firearm with 14 live rounds were left behind at the crime scene, where they were later recovered by the police.
The motive for the shooting remains unknown. However, Walters was a witness in the case of a grenade found outside the offices of the Kaieteur News at Saffon Street, Charlestown, on June 4th, 2016. Walters had testified in the preliminary inquiry into the charge against the accused in that crime. The trial of the accused in that crime is set to come up in the High Court later this year.
Two days after his death, the police arrested two injured suspects at a city hospital.
On February 8th, one of the suspects, Rodrick Thomas, a security guard, was charged with the crime and remanded to prison.
The second suspect, Devon Alleyne, was charged last Thursday.
On February 1st, Lalbachan, also known as ‘Deo’ and ‘Williams,’ 59, of Lot 22 Grant 1651, Crabwood Creek, was pronounced dead on arrival at the Skeldon Public Hospital, minutes after 11 pm. He was stabbed five times about his body during what appeared to be a robbery.
However, a police source later related to this newspaper that investigators were following leads that Lalbachan’s death could be a “hit.”
The source had said that investigators had arrested a male suspect, also from Crabwood Creek, who is the brother of the prime suspect. He was later released after questioning.
The police had identified the prime suspect as an ex-employee of Lalbachan but he has not yet been caught.
