Reeaz Holladar, the applicant in the People’s Progressive Party (PPP)-led court case challenging the Region Four vote count, died after he reportedly shot himself in the head yesterday morning during a domestic row with his wife.
Divisional Commander of Region Four (A) Phillip Azore yesterday confirmed the incident which occurred around 4:30am at Lot A-B Delhi and Omai streets, Prashad Nagar, Georgetown.
Holladar, 28, worked as a driver for PPP executive and former Attorney General Anil Nandlall. The two are said to be related. The building which houses the apartment which Holladar occupied with his wife and two children is owned by a relative of Nandlall.
Investigations, the police said, revealed that Holladar reportedly shot himself in the head with a handgun in the presence of his wife and a security guard of the premises where he lived.
The incident occurred about an hour after Holladar returned home. “The victim [Holladar] was said to have arrived home about an hour before the incident,” the police said.
Investigators were up to yesterday afternoon reviewing surveillance footage which captured the incident.
In a Facebook post yesterday morning, Nandlall confirmed Holladar’s death. He said he mourns with the family.
“It is with profound sadness that I confirm that Reeaz Holladar, my driver for several years, died this morning at or about 4:00 am. From all indications, he committed suicide,” the post read.
When Sunday Stabroek visited the scene yesterday, the security guard on duty refused to divulge any details surrounding the incident.
He related that Holladar’s wife was not around and said that the family does not wish to comment on the matter at this time. “We can’t just say anything at this time,” he said.
However, neighbours recalled hearing Holladar arguing yesterday morning. They said the security guard reportedly tried to calm him but he continued. Shortly after, they said, a gunshot rang out.
One woman, who wished not to be named, said that she and her family were asleep when her husband was awoken by the sound of a gunshot.
She said upon checking, her husband noticed a crowd at the building which led him to suspect that something was amiss. “He seh he see a lot ah body and the wife start hollering,” the woman said.
‘Unaffected’
On March 5th, the opposition PPP secured an injunction prohibiting the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) or any of its functionaries from making a declaration of the total vote count of the March 2 elections unless there is full compliance with the law. The injunction was granted by Justice Navindra Singh based on an application made by Holladar. Holladar was being represented by a battery of lawyers including Nandlall.
In an invited comment yesterday, Nandlall told Sunday Stabroek that Holladar’s death will not affect the court case. “Legal proceedings are unaffected by the death of a party. It’s going to go on unaffected,” he said.
He further related that Holladar’s death has left him in a state of shock, moreso since they shared a close working relationship. Nandlall explained that he last saw Holladar around 6pm on Friday. “He [Holladar] had to run an errand for me. He came and delivered what he had to deliver to me and then he left and that was the last. I asked him to go home. I made a joke with him and said, ‘You know the coronavirus loud so please go home’. That was the last thing I said to him. He smiled and he left,” Nandlall recalled.
He said that based on information he gathered, Holladar did not return home until yesterday morning.
According to Nandlall, he received a phone call from a tenant who also lives in the apartment building where the incident occurred, informing him of the shooting. “A tenant in the building called me to tell me that Holladar, Reeaz shot himself,” he said.
That call, Nandlall added, was followed by others from several relatives. “…And then his family, his relatives called me to tell me the same thing,” Nandlall added.
As a result, he said, he called a friend and arranged to be transported to Holladar’s apartment. Upon arrival, he said, Holladar was lying on the ground. The police were already at the scene.
“The police was already there and they spoke to all those who was around. There was a guard in the yard,” he said.
Nandlall said that Holladar never showed any signs that he was stressed or bothered about anything. While he did not divulge details of what might have led to the row between Holladar and his wife, he said, “some issue of [a] domestic nature.”
He noted that as of midday yesterday, he had not had the opportunity to speak to Holladar’s wife due to the state she was in.
Holladar’s body is presently at the Lyken’s Funeral home awaiting an autopsy which will be conducted in the new week.
