Breakthrough still sought in Vlissengen Rd murder

As relatives remain tight-lipped, details surrounding the fatal shooting of businessman Ashok Raghoo at the traffic light in front of the Botanical Gardens on Monday afternoon, are still sketchy and the police are still searching for a breakthrough.

Ashok, 43, and his wife Shayraz Raghoo, 49, were shot at by two armed bandits on a CG motor cycle, who rolled by on the driver’s side of their car and robbed them of all the valuables they had.

Ashok was later pronounced dead on arrival at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH), while Shayraz, remains an admitted patient at the hospital, where she is nursing a gunshot wound to the right thigh.

Another attempt by Stabroek News to speak with the injured woman was futile. She said that she was not willing to speak to members of the press about what transpired on Monday.

Stabroek News was informed by relatives on Tuesday that Shayraz was shot after she grabbed on to the bag that contained money, a licensed firearm and other important documents.

The couple was said to have been on their way to pay bills and their employees, as they normally did, when they were approached at the traffic light, shot at and robbed by the two bandits. Eyewitnesses had related to this newspaper that the Raghoos’ car had been heading south along Vlissengen Road, when it stopped at the traffic light in front of the Botanical Gardens and the attack occurred.

This newspaper was told by the police that one man remained in police custody on Tuesday. However all attempts to contact Police Crime Chief Leslie James for a further update were futile.