Gunmen snatched him from boat
Less than a day after being grabbed by five hijackers from a Surinamese “back track” boat, the body of a 44-year-old Guyanese businessman was fished out of the Corentyne River yesterday.
Fazal Hoosain, a well-known businessman of Number 69 Village, was discovered by a Suriname-based Japanese fisherman in the Corentyne River. His body was fished out of the river at approximately 2.30 pm yesterday. His hands and feet were tightly bound and several wounds were visible.
Police, up to press time, had not issued a press release on the matter. However, Stabroek News understands that three suspects are in custody at the Springlands Police Station. Contacted last evening, Berbice Police Commander, George Vyphuis confirmed that a body had been found “in Suriname” but said he was in possession of no further details.
Hoosain left Guyana at approximately 4 am on Wednesday and travelled to Suriname on one of the smaller boats that would illegally cross the Corentyne. Relatives said his driver there took him around Suriname to conduct his business and then transported him to the waterfront where he boarded the boat which left at 5.30 pm. Minutes after boarding the vessel Hoosain was abducted by gunmen, who relatives believe brutally murdered him, and later dumped his body in the Corentyne River.
Hoosain’s body was transported to his homeland at about 4.30 pm yesterday and is currently at the Skeldon Hospital Mortuary. Relatives have since identified the body and reported that several marks of violence were visible.
“If you see wa they do to he,” a close relative said. “His hand and foot were tied up tightly and he had a lot of violence marks on him.”
The man was returning home on Wednesday evening after travelling to Suriname “back track” the same morning to conduct business, when the boat he was in was hijacked by five masked men armed with guns. Passengers, who witnessed Hoosain’s abduction, told relatives that some of the gunmen boarded the boat, disabled its engine and collected their cellular phones. The gunmen then forced Hoosain onto their vessel and escaped.
“Passengers who were on the boat tell us that less than five minutes after they left Suriname’s shore this boat suddenly pull up alongside their boat,” a relative said. “They tell us that the men started firing shots in the air and order in Dutch that everyone hand over their cell phones. After that some of the gunmen board their boat and cut the engine lead.”
Word of Hoosain’s abduction reached relatives late Wednesday evening. However, after listening to what passengers reported, relatives said that they “hoped” the hijackers would take whatever cash Hoosain had and release him.
“After we hear about this thing we get the feelings that they go rob him and send him home,” the relatives said. “We start searching for him since last night [Wednesday] and then today [yesterday] we get a boat and start searching along the shoreline and so to see if they loose he anywhere.”
However, relatives’ hopes were shattered when they were informed that Hoosain’s body, tangled in a fisherman’s net, was pulled onto the deck. Hoosain, relatives said, was a former seaman. He leaves to mourn six children, his wife, parents, siblings and other relatives.
Relatives believe Hoosain might have recognized one or more of his attackers and was slain as a result. They were unable to say what the gunmen might have stolen from Hoosain.
“He had a set of goods with him in the boat but the passengers tell we that the gunmen didn’t bother with that, they just take him,” a close relatives said. “As far as we know besides the cell phones the gunmen didn’t take anything else from the passengers in the boat.”
Hoosain was described as a hard working man who “hustled” from an early age to achieve what he wanted in life.
