Soesdyke logger was strangled to death

A post-mortem (PM) examination conducted on the body of logger Rafeek Khan, who was found dead near a sand pit in the Soesdyke, East Bank Demerara area on Thursday, found that he died from manual strangulation and blunt trauma to the head.

Rafeek Kha

The PM was done by government pathologist Dr Nehaul Singh at the Georgetown Public Hospital morgue yesterday. Khan, 43, was taken to Berbice for burial soon after the examination was completed.

The man’s decomposing body was found on Thursday afternoon in a clump of bushes close to a sandpit at Latchmansingh Sand Road, Soesdyke, police had said. His relatives were contacted shortly after by ranks of the Timehri Police Station and he was identified by a camouflage hat, a cigarette lighter and a mobile phone with scotch tape on its face, which were all found at the scene.

His wife, Celine Khan, said that he left their home at Grant Sand Road, Soesdyke around 7:30 am on Tuesday to pick “fat pork for a man who does mine bird.” He was not seen since and several calls to his mobile phone went unanswered. According to her, several checks were made in the general area where her husband’s remains were discovered.

The distraught woman received a phone call from the police and her worst fears were confirmed. Khan’s widow said she did not know of any grievances which the father of her two children may have had with anyone. She said that her husband worked with a logging company at Kwakwani in Region 10 but the company’s operations have been at a standstill since the area was experiencing flooding.