Even as the police are yet to make an arrest, the second victim in the Number 63 Village hotel murders was yesterday identified by relatives as Harry Persaud, 59, of Number 68 Village, Corentyne.
The decomposing bodies of Canadian hotelier Vivekanand Brijbassi also known as ‘Vaker’, 71, and Persaud were found on Friday afternoon in Brijbassi’s hotel, the Sunsplash Holiday Beach Resort, located at Number 63 Village, Corentyne. The two were apparently tortured as body parts had been hacked away. The duo was reportedly found bound and gagged with injuries about their bodies in the balcony area in the upper flat of the two-storey concrete building.
The police have said that Brijbassi was discovered with two toes from his left foot severed while Persaud was found with both hands tied behind his back onto a post and his left foot completely severed from the ankle.
It is suspected that the killer(s) may have been looking for something as not only did they torture the duo but they also ransacked the entire building.
Autopsies are expected to be carried out on the bodies, which are being stored at the Bailey’s Funeral Parlour, on Tuesday.
Efforts to contact Brijbassi’s daughter yesterday proved futile. His sister Krishna Boodram, when contacted, said that she did not have any updated information and was awaiting the arrival of her brother’s wife and daughters.
Meantime, Persaud’s nephew yesterday confirmed his uncle’s injuries to this newspaper. According to the nephew, they became worried after they heard that two persons were found dead in the hotel since they are aware that last year their uncle had started working there as the watchman/caretaker. But it was only after police made contact with them that they became aware that Persaud was one of the victims.
The nephew said he last saw Persaud, also known as ‘Guana man’, about three weeks ago when he last visited, “He na tell abie if he get problem or if anything happen… He just come see he brother and gone because he brother can’t really walk and he deh strong so he does come visit he brother,” he said. Persaud was a father of two.
Meanwhile, the Divisional Crime Chief in Region Six, E. Baird, yesterday related that no arrest had been made and the police were still working on ascertaining the motive behind the murders.
According to a source in the area, the hotel had been broken into several times which caused Brijbassi a lot of issues. “That place get a lot of problems, he get a lot of problems with people breaking in there,” the source said.
Brijbassi reportedly arrived in Guyana on September 20th and was last seen by Boodram on December 19th when he visited her home and had dinner with her. She had related that her brother had been afraid of staying at the hotel but it seemed that he had made up his mind to stay there.
After she questioned him about whether or not he was scared to reside at the building, he told her that he had two friends staying with him. The police are yet to locate the third person.
The discovery of the men’s bodies was made on Friday after Brijbassi failed to respond to his daughter’s phone calls which resulted in her contacting someone to visit the location to check on him. After the person visited the area and noticed the stench emanating from the building, he then contacted lawmen who made the discovery.
It is suspected that the men were killed sometime between December 19th and last Friday.
As of last evening, police were still on the ground continuing their investigations.
