Detectives in Region Six are intensifying the hunt for the female mastermind and her male accomplice in connection with the murder of Hemraj Pardesi of Reliance Settlement, East Canje, Berbice
His body was discovered in his yard during the wee hours of Wednesday.
Pardesi also known as ‘Prem’, 67, who would usually travel back and forth between Guyana and the United States, was found lying face-down in his yard with blood oozing from his nose during the wee hours of Wednesday morning.
According to a source, the man’s face was swollen at the time of the discovery. Further, several traces of what appeared to be blood were also seen on the step leading to the upper flat of his house. There was a wound at the top of his head where it is suspected that he was initially struck.
An autopsy was done on Pardesi’s body yesterday which gave the cause of death as ligature strangulation and blunt trauma to the head.
The upper flat of his house was heavily ransacked and it is suspected that the perpetrators carted off the sum of $800,000 which Pardesi reportedly withdrew from the bank on Tuesday for renovation work on his premises.
Hours after the discovery of Pardesi’s body, investigators placed four persons under arrest and based on questioning the Canje area was canvassed. On Wednesday afternoon, they then found a prime suspect hiding in the Canje Creek next to the Rose Hall Estate wharf. According to a police source, the suspect, who was released from prison in February after completing a two-year sentence on a charge of robbery under arms committed on a Canje supermarket, was in the water with only his mouth and nose exposed at the time of the arrest.
During intense questioning, that suspect told investigators that he and his accomplice were hired by a female who shared a close relationship with Pardesi, and also resided in Reliance Settlement, to rob the man.
In 2019, one of the two men was also charged with robbery under arms committed on a Canje business and burglary committed on a Canje goldsmith.
The man in custody relayed that on the night in questioned they traced Pardesi and noticed that his friend left his residence just before midnight. The friend had told police that when he left Pardesi’s residence he had just received a phone call. The man in custody in his confession said that it was the female who had allegedly phoned Pardesi and invited him over to her place in an effort to allow the two men to gain entry to Pardesi’s premises.
After Pardesi left the woman’s house and was heading back home he was attacked at the bottom of his stairs. According to a police source, the man in custody told investigators that his accomplice used an iron bar to deal Pardesi a lash after which the duo scuffled and Pardesi fell to the ground.
The suspect said that they then used Pardesi’s keys to gain entry to the upper flat where they seized a bag.
