Burnt remains suspected to be of Canadian citizen, Nicholas Ramkissoon Jaipaul, who was reported missing on Monday, were yesterday morning discovered in Moleson Creek, Upper Corentyne.
As of yesterday afternoon police had the alleged mastermind in custody. Also held were the prime suspect, his brother and his mother, who worked with the deceased’s grandfather as a domestic worker.
In addition, the police also took into custody, another female – a domestic worker, who worked with the grandfather for over ten years. She was arrested with the prime suspect’s mother in the initial stages of the investigation.
A senior police source yesterday told Stabroek News that the prime suspect, who led police to the area where the remains were, in his confession statement alleged that he was hired by a Corentyne rice farmer to kidnap Jaipaul in an effort to lure Jaipaul’s grandfather to an area with a ransom of $50 million, where he would then kill the two men.
The source said the suspect claimed that he was promised $500,000 after he completed the job.
Jaipaul, 23, arrived in Guyana back in January with his grandfather, Ramkissoon Jaipaul, 86. The duo were residing at the grandfather’s house in Number 69 Village, Corentyne, and were expected to leave the country in May, but were forced to remain in the country due to flight COVID-19 restrictions.
His grandfather had told Stabroek News that he left the man awake and went to bed on Sunday around 7.30 pm.
However, on Monday morning he received a strange call asking if he was aware that his grandson was not in the house, which led him to file a police report.
He recalled that he was never asked for any ransom but he had suspected that that was the reason behind the call.
After the report was filed, police launched an investigation and placed the elder Jaipaul’s two female maids and a son of one of them, in custody.
Police Commander of Region Six Calvin Brutus, had said that one of the maids and her two sons had a questionable past which led to their arrest.
However, after intense questioning one of the women’s son confessed to police that he was behind the disappearance of young Jaipaul.
Initially, the prime suspect, 30, of Number 70 Village, Corentyne, would only tell investigators that he was hired by a rice farmer to kidnap and murder Jaipaul, and during the wee hours of yesterday morning he took local investigators and ranks of the Major Crimes Unit to the location where the remains were.
Upon arriving at the location, which is a short distance away from the Moleson Creek Stelling along the main access road, investigators discovered the burnt remains suspected to be that of Jaipaul.
The Guyana Police Force in a statement yesterday said that samples uplifted from the remains would be sent to the Guyana Forensic Laboratory for DNA testing.
After the discovery was made, the suspect was taken back to the police station where he gave a full confession.
A senior police source said, that the suspect is claiming that he was hired by the rice farmer to kidnap Jaipaul and murder him. He said he took the man from the house to the location where he strangled him and then burnt his body on Sunday evening.
He told investigators, that he was offered $500,000 but had not yet received the money.
The suspect told investigators that he was hired by a rice farmer from Number 70 Village, Corentyne, who presently has a land issue with Jaipaul’s grandfather before the court.
According to the source, “We were told that a few of them came together and colluded to kidnap and kill this boy. The plan was to always kill the boy and call the grandfather and ask for $50 million ransom and when the grandfather showed up with the money then they would have killed him too.”
Incoming
However, after receiving the call, the grandfather immediately contacted police who started an investigation with police monitoring all incoming phone calls, which caused that plan to fall through, the source stated.
According to information gathered, the senior Jaipaul previously owned a rice mill located on the Corentyne. However, he had sold the mill and started to rent his lands to rice farmers within the community.
Stabroek News was told that after farmers were failing to pay the rent over a period of time, Jaipaul decided to file a matter in the court.
The police source said, that the rice farmer in custody is one of the persons that the senior Jaipaul would have filed a matter against. “That is the same information we have,” the source said.
Relatives of the man gathered at the scene yesterday morning after the news broke that his suspected remains were found.
His uncle, Rajendra Persaud, said, that he arrived at the scene just around 6 am after he was contacted by police. When Stabroek News interviewed Persaud at the scene just around 11 am, he was yet to view the remains.
He disclosed that his nephew suffered from a buildup of fluid in the head when he was baby, which caused him to have a stent placed to allow the flow of fluids. “He was not in the best of health so he never worked.”
Persaud said that the boy was extremely excited to return to Guyana for a vacation since he hadn’t visited the country for a few years now, “He just like being in Guyana because he born here but when he come he didn’t get to go back because of the lockdown.”
He added, “Although he grew up in that house and he knew people around there he never really go out and so because of medication that he had to get.”
Around midday yesterday, investigators requested Persaud to make an attempt to identify the body. After doing so, the man in an extremely emotional state, said, “It was gruesome because the bones completely burn, hardly anything you can recognise but he had the operation and I could identify him from the head, it was him,” he confirmed. “It’s about four bones and his skull.”
Yesterday afternoon, the uncle said that they were still coming to terms with the loss. He noted that his nephew grew up ‘in front’ of him and it was extremely hard to see his remains in such a state. He described the boy as an extremely kind and caring person.
He also disclosed that Jaipaul’s parents were being updated constantly.
Meanwhile, as of yesterday afternoon, police were still questioning the alleged mastermind. When Stabroek News contacted relatives of the man, they confirmed that the police arrived at his house yesterday and placed him under arrest. The relative claimed that police did not give a reason for arresting the man but only said that they were ordered to make the arrest.
