The family of Zaman Mohamed who was shot dead in the compound of Sueria Manufacturing at Eccles on Friday says he was not a bandit and left home that evening to go fishing.
Mohamed, of Pump Road, Annandale, East Coast Demerara, was shot by a security guard in the compound and the police are investigating the matter. The guard of Crane Housing Scheme, West Coast Demerara is currently in police custody.
In a statement yesterday, the police said that investigations revealed that the security officer who was armed with a shotgun was making checks when he said he observed two male intruders in the compound at 70 Industrial Site, Eccles. He said he subsequently shouted at them during which a round was discharged by one of the suspects, the police said.
The police said it was reported that the security officer took cover and discharged a round in the direction of the men. In a bid to escape from the premises which is bordered by a canal, one of the men fell to the ground.
The man was later identified as Mohamed and pronounced dead at the scene by an Emergency Medical Technician from the Guyana Fire Service and taken to the Lyken Funeral Home.
A search conducted in the area and its environs unearthed a spent 12-gauge shell which was lodged along with the shotgun and five cartridges, the police said. The police said that the incident occurred at 9.45 pm.
When Stabroek News visited Mohamed’s home, the family was preparing for his funeral. The deceased’s mother, Latchmin Singh was inconsolable and his sister had to be sent for to speak to this newspaper.
Marina Mohamed said that on the night of the incident, her brother went fishing as it was the way he made his livelihood. The family believes that at the time of the incident, he was fishing in the canal behind the company.
“Normally my brother goes fishing and through the fishing he does go fishing in the trenches all about. I have videos from different times he went fishing when we went with he. He does catch crab to sell and get money. On Friday he left around 6:30 to go catch fish but he didn’t come back home and he would usually come back by 10 o’clock or around that in the night. The morning we wake up and see he didn’t come back the night so we was worried. We start to make calls all over,” said the woman.
According to the man’s sister while they were busy making phone calls, an anonymous call came through and they were told by a supposed friend of her brother that he was with Zaman Mohamed fishing in the canal behind Sueria Manufacturing when they were shot at. She related that the caller told them that he ran to save his life and that her brother had gotten shot, adding that he didn’t know whether he had died. The sister said the man further told them to check with the police stations along the East Bank Demerara to see if the police knew what had happened to him. When asked whether they knew this friend, the woman said that the call was from a blocked number and that her brother had many friends who they didn’t know and caller was one of them.
Providence
Singh, the deceased’s mother said that she first went to the Providence Police Station in search of information on her son. After relating to an officer there the anonymous phone call that she received, Singh said the police made several calls to other police stations but told her that there was no record of her son at any of the police stations. Singh said she visited the Agricola Police Station but they could not help her either. Finally, she visited the Georgetown Public Hospital where she was told to check with Lyken’s Funeral Home.
“So when we go there, they said yes that a guy who was [brought] in got shot. I beg them to see the person but they said we got to go to Providence Police Station and get a police to [escort] us back for us to identify the dead person,” Marina said. When they returned to the funeral home with the police officer, they were allowed to see the dead man who they identified as her brother.
Marina in response to the reports of her brother going to rob the company stated that he has never been involved in anything illegal. She questioned why if her brother was going to rob a company, would he do so wearing only his underwear? She noted that her brother usually goes fishing in shorts and provided videos to this newspaper of fishing events showing him in shorts only.
“The police tell we that there was cameras around but said when they asked to see the camera, the people them tell them that the cameras not working. Come on, if you get footage that my brother was doing such, why you won’t show the police?” she argued.
Meanwhile, Singh lamented that she invited her now dead son to join her and a friend at the seawall on Friday but he said that he had to go to the mosque and was going fishing after. She said also that on Friday he invited her to accompany him on a fishing trip at Mahaicony this week and asked that she do some “bush cooking” while they were there.
“He was a very good person. He was peaceful. In the morning when I wake up and come downstairs, he would always tell me about my ‘morning glory’ smile,” Marina cried. She shared that the deceased used to work at sea but when his boss passed away some years ago, he began catching fish and crabs to provide for his livelihood.
