Police sources say there is insufficient evidence to lay charges in the murder of United States-based Guyanese Roopnarine Ramodit, who was killed two weeks ago during a robbery.
“We keep arresting persons and processing them whenever we get reports but so far we found nothing tangible to suffice any charges,” a source close to the investigations told Stabroek News.
Sources said they are also “hearing a lot of things but people are not coming forward. We would get our own lead too and we going after it. We’re looking at every angle….”
Ramodit, 59, of Minnesota, had arrived in the country with his wife Loopwatie Ramodit, 54, and they were staying at relatives at Clifton Settlement, at Port Mourant, Corentyne when tragedy struck.
He was laid to rest in Minnesota last weekend according to Hindu rites before a massive crowd, Loopwatie’s eldest brother, Jewan Singh, said.
He told Stabroek News in an interview that his sister is finding it hard to put memories of the painful incident behind her, especially since it reminded her of the time their father, Lall ‘Boney’ Singh, 63, was murdered at No. 49 Village. Singh felt his brother-in-law was murdered during a struggle with the bandit who snatched his “fat” gold chain he was wearing.
In tears, Loopwatie had told this newspaper just after the shooting that if her husband had died because he was sick, she would have found the situation easier to deal with.
She had just served him dinner under the house, where he was sitting with another man, when she heard the loud explosion. She and relatives, Raymond ‘Jack’ David, 49, and his wife, Dawatie, 48, were confronted by a masked gunman who appeared at the doorway and ordered them to be quiet. After the shot was fired and Ramodit fell to the ground, both gunmen fled the scene through an abandoned rice field. Loopwatie recalled that she screamed and rushed out of the kitchen and saw her husband lying on the ground bleeding.
She pleaded with him: “Please don’t give up, you would be okay” and recounted that he tried to tell her something but was unable to talk. In tears, the inconsolable woman had lamented that her husband was a “simple, loving and religious person. He never hurt nobody’s feelings.”
The widow had said the gunmen were “heartless. They should have taken everything and leave him alone. They don’t know him from anywhere and they come and kill him….”
Singh insisted that he does not want this killing to become another “unsolved murder” that would add to the already high statistics in this country. He wants the perpetrators to be caught and brought to justice. He is of the view that the men knew exactly which house they were going to and he opined that “it was a pre-planned situation; they came prepared. You can’t come and rob any house at random.” He added, “Someone had to give out information that they were coming.”
He surmised: “It doesn’t seem as though they [gunmen] came with the intention to kill but it looks like it was a robbery that went bad…”
The re-migrant/businessman added: “I want to know what the government is doing about it. This is a small country; they can control the crime but so many people are dying.” He also said that the police have to take their work more seriously.
He remembered his brother-in-law as a “very active member of his church who had a good relationship with persons.”
Ramodit’s brother, Thackoordin Ramodit, 62, of No. 63 Village, said he is still deeply hurt over what happened to his brother and said it seems like an “impossible case. If they don’t find the person(s) with the gun, it would remain an unsolved mystery.”
He said his brother last came to Guyana in 2000 for their brother’s funeral and he was looking forward to reuniting with him during this trip.
Lall ‘Boney’ Singh
With regards to his father, Singh recalled that the man had just returned from the US when armed bandits invaded his No. 49 Village home and shot him. He pointed out that his father left Guyana in the 70s and returned in the 80s to sell about 500 head of cattle he owned. He felt that the gunmen were after the proceeds from the sale but the man had already banked the money.
The bandits stole his shotgun, cartridges and a quantity of clothing and other articles after ransacking the home.
According to Singh, the bandits fired the shots through a window from outside the veranda. The bullets shattered the window and pierced his father’s chest, face and hand. It also damaged a lamp he was carrying in his hand. Singh felt his father must have heard the noise and was coming out of his bedroom apparently “to confront the bandits.”
He flew into the country from the US shortly after and provided transportation and financial assistance–upon request—to the police. They “conducted thorough investigations and arrested a few men from Black Bush Polder and No. 43 Village.” Police also recovered Lall’s gun, the cartridges and some of the articles in the men’s possession.
They were charged with the offence and after waiting five years in prison for the matter to be called in the High Court, they were set free.
Singh said, “The family went back to the States hoping that justice would prevail” but later learnt that “the files started to be missing along with the evidence.” He related too that he had eventually found out that a close relative who was not on good terms with his father was involved in the killing. He told this newspaper that he confronted the relative and asked him how he could have done that to his own [relation mentioned] and “he bent his head and he got emotional and I saw the guilt….”
