A West Coast Berbice contractor died after he was chopped during a robbery on Friday night in the North Rupununi Village of Rupertee.
The Police have not yet released any information surrounding the incident and several calls to Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) Commander Raphael Rose were unsuccessful.
Rupertee is one of the five Macushi Amerindian communities that comprise the Annai area and Toshao Michael Williams told the Sunday Stabroek that the dead man has been identified as Matthew (only name given).
He said that the incident occurred between Friday night and early yesterday morning while the now dead man and his coworkers were out drinking at the Tractor Bar in Rupertee Village.
“I get a call early this morning and someone ask me if I hear about the murder last night [Friday] and I said no. I wake up and then I went and investigate and it was then I found out that is one of the contractors that building concrete bridges was murdered,” he related.
Williams said that eyewitnesses related that a car with three persons, including a woman, was trailing Matthew and two of his coworkers and while at the Bar they attempted to rob them. The men were armed with cutlasses and chopped Matthew on his right hand while one of his coworkers sustained several chops to the head.
“The people in the car had their cutlass and the other boys didn’t have anything so what they did is jump in their canter and drive away and they drive about 20 minutes into Surama Village and they went to the Health Post. The worker there called the doctor and he said that they should come back to Annai and while they were driving back the man give up. When he reach the hospital the doctor pronounced he dead,” the Village Leader said.
He said that the Police informed him that they currently have the driver of the car and the female passenger in custody at the Lethem Police Station. Additionally, they discovered a quantity of cash on the driver of the car. The other suspect is at large.
