Watch repairman found dead on road

A 47-year-old watch repairman was on Sunday morning discovered lying dead on the roadway not far from his Best Village, West Coast Demerara (WCD) home and it is suspected that he was murdered.

Dead is Mohamed Shaheed Khan of 73 Best Village, WCD. A post-mortem examination conducted yesterday, has revealed that he died as a result of haemorrhaging of the brain owing to a fractured skull. Police were yesterday evening questioning one man as investigations into the suspected murder continue.

Khan lived alone and reports are that early Sunday morning someone saw him lying face-up on the road, not far from his home and alerted a neighbour. The neighbour, Ramnarine Doodnauth, then went to ascertain that it was indeed Khan and then relayed the news to the dead man’s relatives in Canada. Doodnauth told Stabroek News that Khan’s body bore what appeared to be marks of violence and a lighter, cigarette packet and $20 were left on top of his body.

He stated that he had last seen his former neighbour on Saturday morning. At the time, Khan and another man were at Khan’s home working.

According to reports reaching this newspaper, Khan was later seen, on Saturday night, drinking alone at a neighbourhood bar. It is unclear at what time he left. When neighbours were alerted about the body lying in the road it was raining and the body was said to be “stiff, stiff”.

Yesterday some of the dead man’s relatives arrived in the country and his brother Rahaman Khan told Stabroek News that his older brother had only moved into the house at Best Village in May this year. He had previously lived in Parika. He said he last spoke to him about two months ago.

Khan’s mother, Halima Ali, said she got the devastating news at her Goed Fortuin, West Bank Demerara home when her nephew received a call and relayed the information to her. “He told me that he have a sad news for me. He just got a message that Shaheed is dead and I just couldn’t believe it,” the woman stated. She said she called her daughter Shameena and together they journeyed to Khan’s home, where they confirmed that he was dead.

Shameena said that early last month, someone had called to say that Khan was dead but this turned out to be false. They had hoped that this time the report would not have been true either.

Khan, who was described as a “jovial person who would make anybody laugh” is survived by three daughters. He also leaves to mourn his ex-wife, seven siblings and other relatives.