T&T businessman, two Guyanese held over workers’ murders

A Trinidadian businessman and two Guyanese were in custody last evening as police in Trinidad and Tobago continue their investigation into the murders of two Guyanese men whose bodies were found in a river on Sunday with gunshot wounds to the back of their heads.

Reports out of Trinidad were that the men were arrested some time on Wednesday evening and may appear in court today.
Narad Sookoo, 28, and Tomeshwar Doobay, 31, had been bundled into a car on Saturday afternoon following an argument with some men who pulled up alongside their job site in St Augustine. Their fully clothed bodies were discovered in a river at an abandoned landfill in Felicity, Chaguanas the following morning.

Investigators in Trinidad later told reporters in that country that the men might have been killed over TT$800 that was stolen from a businessman.
Reports are that two other Guyanese were accused of stealing the money and were assaulted and sacked. Sookoo and Doobay on witnessing the assault on their countrymen reportedly decided to leave the job and this resulted in the businessman telephoning them and accusing them of stealing the money.

The businessman, said to be of “suspicious character”, reportedly put a hit on two workers and had been under surveillance since the discovery of the two bodies.

Meanwhile, Sookoo was cremated yesterday and according to Guyana’s Honorary Consul to Trinidad Ernie Ross it was a very sad affair and many persons turned out to pay their last respects.

He told Stabroek News from Port-of-Spain that Doobay’s body is set to leave Trinidad around 9 o’clock tonight for Guyana.
According to Ross, the men’s deaths teach a sad lesson that his consulate has been preaching about every month and that is employers taking advantage of Guyanese especially those who are living in that country illegally.

He said the consulate has been receiving numerous reports of physical abuse and even rapes by employers but many of the Guyanese prefer not to report the incidents to the authorities in that country for fear of being deported to Guyana.

Ross said his office had a list of unsavory employers and he would wish Guyanese to check with the consulate before taking up jobs with persons.
However, he said, his office had received no report on the businessman in this current case.

Often, Ross said, employers would ask prospective employees for their passports and this was a warning for them not to take the job.
Doobay’s mother had told Stabroek News earlier this week that her son had gone to Trinidad to make a better life for himself, as he was finding it difficult to get work locally.