Persons of questionable character were seen in Bartica over the weekend and reportedly left hurriedly prior to the discovery of the bodies of gold dealers Ramdeo Deonarine and Jainarine Raghubar. One of these persons has since been arrested, Commissioner of Police Henry Greene said.
Greene, speaking at a press conference yesterday afternoon, described the murders as “cleanly committed crimes” and said police did not have an eyewitness. The murders, he said, have sent shockwaves through the mining community and residents remain tight-lipped.
There was a back-to-school dance on Saturday night when the men were last seen alive. The music from the dance was very loud, residents told police, and even if there were screams from the victims they most likely would not have heard.
Greene appealed to anyone with significant information that can aid police in solving the murders to come forward. Most of the information police need comes from the public, he noted, and their help is always welcomed.
At about 11.30 am on Sunday, the commissioner said during a summary of the police’s information, a young lady went to visit Deonarine. The woman, according to Greene, was a friend who Deonarine would associate with from time to time. It was she who found the bodies of the two men, raised an alarm and police responded to the scene.
Deonarine, 50, of Ruby, East Bank Essequibo and Raghubar, 43, of Fairfield, Essequibo Coast were discovered on the floor in the kitchen downstairs of a building on Second Avenue.
The building, Greene explained, is owned by Ricky Ramnarine who has since told police that he and Deonarine were friends and business partners. Ramnarine has an office on the ground floor and Deonarine also had office space where he did his transactions for the buying and selling of gold. Ramnarine further said that Raghubar was a business associate.
Greene explained that there is an inner stairway leading to the second floor where a bedroom is located. If anyone went to the house, the commissioner said, they would have to force their way up the stairway. One person, according to him, would sleep in the room and another on a mattress outside.
Deonarine, police learnt from Ramnarine, had a key to the building and would regularly go there at anytime. Raghubar went to Bartica on Friday and on Saturday he and Deonarine met Ramnarine. The building owner told police that he left the two men around midnight on Saturday and went to his Seventh Avenue home. It was the last time he saw Deonarine and Raghubar alive.
On Sunday morning, Ramnarine learnt that the men were found dead in his building. Their hands and feet were tied together and they bore deep wounds to the throat. Greene said Raghubar’s body had other marks of violence. There cuts through the man’s body, Greene said, an indication that he might have be tortured to give information to his attacker(s).
Meanwhile, Greene said police learnt from Ramnarine that his office was broken into and $1.3 million, 100 ounces of raw gold, two laptops, one .32 Tarrus pistol and six rounds, and a Rolex wrist watch were stolen.
Greene said he was not sure what was stolen from the two dead men. Deonarine, according to him, was a licensed firearm holder and police were not able to recover his gun. It is suspected that this is among the stolen items. This newspaper had been informed that almost $100 million in cash, gold and diamonds were stolen.
“We have received information that persons of questionable character were seen in the area and then seen leaving the area hurriedly the next morning… one had a very bulky bag,” Greene told reporters.
Reports reaching police, he further said, have indicated that a vehicle might have transported the perpetrator(s) from the house. Investigators have been getting bits and pieces of information but nothing to provide enough evidence as to who committed the crime. However, he stressed that police are not daunted because they “will run into those firearms at some stage.
“We also want to establish an anti-crime unit in the area [Bartica] … from time to time there will be temptation and people will want to take what they can from the miners.”
The commissioner said police will continue to investigate the murders of Deonarine and Raghubar despite the difficulties. He is confident that they will eventually make a breakthrough.
