A gunman pumped four bullets into a Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara man last evening, blowing his brains out as he sat alone at his business place.
“Somebody pay dem people to kill meh son,” the mother of Rajendra Motilall Sonilall, 41, of 73 Mon Repos Pasture, said last evening, as she wailed for him.
Sonilall, who was also known as ‘Moti’ and ‘Salt fish Man,’ was sitting at his salt fish business place, not far from his home, when the lone gun-man walked up to him and shot him four times. He was reported shot twice to the head, once to the throat and another bullet pierced his stomach.
His assailant was said to have been cloaked in a coat and also had his face covered. Reports are that the man then walked towards the Railway Embankment, where a car was waiting for him.
“People say dem see deh car park there but dem ent tek it for nothing is after Moti dead den dem know is wah happen,” a male relative said.
Police, in a statement last evening, said they were investigating Sonilall’s murder.
Investigations revealed that about 7:30 pm he was sitting alone under a shed in the vicinity of his business place at Mon Repos Pasture, when an armed man approached and discharged shots at him which struck him to his head and abdomen, police said. Sonilall was taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Two spent shells were recovered at the scene by the police.
At the hospital, scores gathered and many wept openly after hearing the news of the man’s death.
The man’s popularity was also very evident at his home, as the entire street was lined with persons and more than an hour after the shooting many were still standing in the vicinity of the spot where he shot.
According to Sonilall’s relatives, he had spent most of the day in Georgetown and had returned home shortly before he received a phone call and he left for his business.
All of his workers had already left for home, leaving Sonilall sitting by himself when he was approached.
“Deh man bin pass he and den he like tun back and point deh gun to he head and blow he brains out, he shoot he at close range,” one of the man’s relatives told Stabroek News last night.
Amidst much wailing by the numerous persons that had converged at the man’s mother home, relatives related that whoever attacked Sonilall went with the sole intent to murder him.
Stabroek News was told that the man had in his possession over $200,000, jewellery and a cellular phone, all of which were intact when he was found slumped next to the bench where he was seated.
Residents and relatives said that they heard four gunshots and when they ran to the scene they found the man slumped and bleeding. “He couldn’t talk but he still bin a breathe because he belly bin moving but he brain din come out on the ground,” this newspaper was told.
Sonilall, a father of five, had a stall at the Stabroek Market, where he vended his salt fish, and he also exported the product overseas. “Today he export some slat fish, only today,” a relative said.
Some of his relatives said they believe that the man was killed by someone who owed him and was reluctant to repay their debt. “Somebody who owe Moti pay fuh kill am,” a sister of the man said. Another relative stated that someone owed the man in the vicinity of $8M.
Relatives also said Sonilall was before the courts for being in possession of an unlicensed gun.
They related that the man had purchased the weapon from someone who in turn sent the police to him and the gun was uncovered.
“Dem sell am deh gun and bin a go to court, only next week he was to go to court but now dem come and kill am,” a sister said as she screamed for her brother.
The woman, who would only give her name as ‘Data,’ said she had seen when her brother left his home and went to the spot where he was killed.
“I see me buddy sitting deh and I look at he and I say to me self, ‘me buddy get problem but he nah tell nobody,’ because of how he look,” the sister said.
The man’s sisters said he was like their “bread winner” as he provided the fish they sold at their stall and ‘Data’ said shortly before he was killed he had promised to give her fish today for her stall.
“A depend on me buddy fuh a living, now who guh help me? Who guh run deh business me nah get sense to run deh business,” another sister said.
