More than two years after policeman Chaavekanand Kishore died his relatives remain convinced that his death was no suicide and are calling on investigators to do more to answer many lingering questions.
From the outset, there have been more questions than answers about exactly how Kishore ended up dead in his girlfriend’s living quarters in the compound of an Essequibo Coast Hospital on January 13, 2010.
Moreso there were no traces of gunpowder residue on his hands and the clothing that his girlfriend, who was in the room at the time of the shooting, was wearing was collected three days after the incident.
Relatives say that the details in the woman’s story do not add up, and further that Kishore who had served in the force for 13 years was not suicidal. The last word that they received was that samples were being sent to a lab in Trinidad for further testing.
A source close to the case told this newspaper recently that the case file has been back and forth between the police and the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions since there seems to be an obvious effort to “bungle” the investigation.
The source said that Kishore’s hands were swabbed and bagged off shortly after the shooting. The swab samples were then sent to the police forensics department for testing to confirm that he had indeed pulled the trigger. Kishore’s service revolver was used in the shooting.
Stabroek News was told that as part of the post mortem examination, the government pathologist also tested the man’s hand for gunpower residue. The source said that surprisingly none was found by the police or the pathologist which clearly indicated that Kishore did not shoot himself.
The source said further that a ballistics expert had said that if it was suicide there would have been some trace of gunpowder residue on Kishore’s hands.
“What was also strange is that he was a trained policeman and he would never shoot himself through the heart. You take longer to die when you do that,” the source explained, pointing out that a trained shooter will put the weapon to his head, in his mouth or under his chin, to ensure that death is painless and instantaneous.
Like the relatives, the source said that it is strange that “a happy man” who had his whole life ahead of him would shoot himself.
The source said that what is even more shocking is that the girlfriend told the police in her statement that the two got married secretly in December 2009 after he visited her in a West Demerara village. The source said that based on the woman’s explanation, the two had sex after which she went to take a bath.
It was shortly after that that she heard a loud explosion and on investigating found Kishore lying on the bed with a wound to his chest. The source said that according to the woman, the wounded man told her that he loved her very much and could not live without her. It was after this that she raised an alarm.
The source said that what is even stranger is that the first person who responded claimed that on looking into the room, the interior was tumbled up and Kishore was lying on the floor.
This newspaper was told that there were numerous reports that when the man went to see the girlfriend he discovered text messages from another man on her cellular phone. However when the records were requested from the relevant telecommunications providers, there was no trace of the messages.
The investigators spent more than three hours processing the scene and according to the case file, the woman’s hands were swabbed and the clothing she was wearing at the time was collected by the police. The police said that results showed no evidence of gunpowder residue.
The source said it was only recently discovered that the clothing was not collected until three days after the incident, and that the use of bleach was enough to make all traces disappear.
According to the source, it was subsequently revealed that attempts were being made to compromise the investigation.
This newspaper was told that the file was sent to the police on four separate occasions with instructions to conduct further investigations.
On one occasion, the source said that the file was sent to Lethem in an attempt to get a statement from the woman’s brother. It was explained to this newspaper that the woman in her statement had said that her brother was in the room when the incident occurred. However there was no statement from the brother in the case file that was presented to the DPP. The subsequent information was that the man was working in an interior location. In a bid to get him, the file was sent to Lethem with instructions that the police there make every effort to locate him and get a statement.
The file was returned to the DPP without the statement several months later and it was then that it was discovered that the brother was teaching at a school in Essequibo and had never worked in the interior. More than a year after the incident the man give a statement, but denied that he was there when the shooting occurred. He said in his statement that he arrived later, the source told this newspaper.
The source said that the DPP has since recommended that the swab samples and clothing be taken to an independent lab for analysis.
“If the police treat their own like this, what can the public expect?” the source asked, adding that if the man’s family is to get justice, the police have a lot more work to do.
Justice
Recently Stabroek News spoke with Kishore’s mother, Hemawattie and his sister Deravani and they both demanded justice.
A still grief-stricken Hemawattie was adamant that her son did not take his own life, and said that the girlfriend had all the answers to solve the mystery.
The woman said her son met the woman at her husband’s wake in October 2009.
Recalling the day he died, she said that he left home to purchase a new phone but when he came back almost two hours later, he had a sad look in his eyes. She recalled that he came to the doorway of the daycare centre she operated at her home, and he looked as though something was bothering him.
Hemawattie said that “he just deh looking at me with this sad look pon he face.” She related that as he walked away he looked back and once again gave her that “sad look,” and again as he was preparing to drive off in his car.
She said that based on what she was told after leaving her Sparta, Essequibo home, her son visited a friend at Hampton Court. He told the friend that he was going to visit his girlfriend.
The woman said that it was later reported to her that the two visited a Chinese restaurant at Charity where they bought food before returning to his girlfriend’s home. At some point, Hemawattie said, the woman left to buy a bottle of coca cola.
It was on their return that persons in the area heard the two arguing.
Hemawattie told Stabroek News that she had been informed that at some point the woman’s cousin visited the couple and it was around that time that the shooting occurred.
She recounted how at the time she arrived on the scene the woman was crying and she had attempted to confront her. She said that later when she saw her son’s body, there was a big hole in his chest and in the mattress.
The woman said that at no point did her son complain to her about any problem that he and his girlfriend were having.
“I want justice for my son. The police shoulda do more to find out how he died,” she said adding that he was Chancellor Carl Singh’s driver at the time of his death and had been stationed at Brickdam Police Station.
She said too that she found it baffling that her son would choose to shoot himself in the chest.
Meanwhile Deravani said that a policeman informed her about three to four months ago that another ballistics test had to be done. She said that the investigation is taking a lot of time and was adamant that the girlfriend knows more about what happened that day.
“We pray that one day we get answers. As they say what falls on your head, goes to your shoulder before it gets to the ground. So one day we will get answers,” she insisted.
