A Good Hope construction worker has died after suffering chop wounds to his abdomen in an altercation.
A police report said that the dead man is Surajpaul Etwaroo, a 38-year-old of Lot 380 Good Hope, Phase One, East Coast Demerara. The incident occurred on Friday at about 5:30pm.
The suspect hails from Stanleytown, West Bank Demerara. He was later arrested by police and is in custody assisting with investigations.
The report stated that an eyewitness told investigators that she saw the suspect riding a bicycle and he was approached by an identifiable man. On being approached, the suspect went to the waist of his pants causing the man to run away. The suspect then rode past her on his bicycle. About four minutes later, she saw Etwaroo and the identifiable man on separate bicycles and armed with a baton and a cutlass heading in the suspect’s direction. The three subsequently confronted each other with the suspect and Etwaroo dismounting their respective bicycles while the identifiable male dropped the baton and ran into the eyewitness’ yard.
According to the report, Etwaroo began chopping at the suspect with the cutlass while the suspect pulled a knife from his waist and retaliated. The suspect then picked up the dropped baton and dealt Etwaroo a blow which caused him to drop the cutlass which the suspect picked up and proceeded to chop Etwaroo in his abdomen. The suspect also used his knife to stab the victim several times while he lay motionless on the ground. The suspect then remounted his bicycle and escaped.
The eyewitness subsequently raised an alarm and the wounded Etwaroo was picked up by his brother and rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital. He succumbed to his injuries while receiving medical attention.
The dead man’s brother, Ferose Etwaroo, told the Sunday Stabroek that his brother, Surajpaul, along with a friend who has a speech impediment went to confront the suspect about an alleged robbery committed on the friend on Thursday. Ferose related that according to what he heard, the speech-impaired friend who is also a construction worker, was robbed on Thursday of $10,000 and his cellphone.
However, since the friend was speech-impaired, Surajpaul, after hearing what transpired, decided to accompany him to confront the suspect about the alleged robbery.
According to Ferose, at the time, it was his brother who had the baton in his hand and the suspect had a knife in his. He stated that during the altercation, the suspect pulled out his knife and the friend ran away, leaving the suspect and the brother, whereupon the suspect chopped his brother.
Ferose said when he got the message, Surajpaul was already lying on the ground. His cut abdomen was bound up by the neighbours and his other brother rushed him to the Georgetown Public Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Ferose acknowledged that he heard people saying his brother had a cutlass in his hands but at the scene he didn’t see anything like that. He knows that a small knife was found but doesn’t believe it is the murder weapon. (Subhana Shiwmangal)
