Ryan ‘Budram’ Ramkarran, who allegedly broke into a bar at Second Avenue, Bartica in a robbery attempt on Sunday evening, was strangled to death by the owner, who is now hospitalised with stab wounds he sustained during the encounter.
Although police said that Carey Bhojedat, 30, was attacked by Ramkarran, 23, of Fourth Avenue, Bartica, he was labelled a “suspect” and is now a patient under-guard at the Bartica Hospital.
Ramkarran’s relatives believe that there is more to his death than has been reported by police and they have called for a thorough investigation of the circumstances.
Bhojedat, Stabroek News has learnt, had just gone to his apartment in the upper flat of the building after securing his business premises, when he heard a noise. He returned downstairs to investigate and was reportedly confronted by Ramkarran, leading to a scuffle. Ramkarran allegedly stabbed Bhojedat several times about the body and the man retaliated by strangling him.
Police, in a statement, labelled Bhojedat the “suspect” and said they were investigating the circumstances of Ramkarran’s death.
According to police, Bhojedat was making checks after hearing a noise in his home at Second Avenue, some time around 11.30 pm, when he was confronted by Ramkarran. A toque mask with two eye-holes and two cell phones, that are suspected to have been stolen, were found on the body of Ramkarran’s body, police added.
Bhojedat’s wife, Brazilian national Niclia Lobres, told Stabroek News that she and her husband had just closed their restaurant and bar and were about to retire to bed before the attack.
“I hear a noise downstairs and then I tell Carey to go see what happen and when he go down, he see this thief man and then the thief man pull out a long knife and began stab[bing] he,” she related.
Lobres added that upon hearing her husband shouting, she ran downstairs and saw the man and her husband, who were both covered in blood, fighting. The fight lasted approximately 15 minutes. When they were finished, Bhojedat was bleeding profusely and Ramkarran was lying lifeless on the floor. Police were summoned and they rushed the men to the hospital, where Ramkarran was pronounced dead on arrival and Bhojedat was admitted as a patient.
A senior police official yesterday confirmed that Ramkarran was known to the police and that investigations have so far revealed that he was attempting to burglarise a home when he was killed.
Conflicting reports
Ramkarran’s mother, Ophelia Persaud, told this newspaper that she and her husband moved from Bartica several years ago to live in Parika, East Bank Essequibo, and they left their son in the house they owned at Bartica.
She received a call some time around 1 am yesterday informing her of his death. “I get a call and them tell me that this man kill me Budram, that’s all I know,” she said. “Just the other day I get fuh know that a girl got a child fuh he and now he gone and get killed and I never see the child,” she added.
Amidst tears, Persaud added that she was later told by her relatives that her son and another friend were consuming alcohol at a bar and the friend later left him there.
Persaud admitted that Ramkarran was a known character and added that he was always being victimised by police as a result. “He does get ketch with he lil weed and them things but the police always brutalising he. The other day me mother call me and tell me that when he went sleeping the police come in the house and start to tumble up it asking she if he bring anything illegal and give she,” she said.
The woman added that she was not covering up her son’s faults as she called on the police to properly investigate so that justice is served.
Ramkarran’s stepfather, Kwame Trim, meanwhile, explained that the based on the reports out of Bartica, his stepson may have been the victim of triangular affair. Trim said that he did not know anything about Ramkarran’s girlfriend but following his death, he was informed that she was seen visiting the interior location on weekends. Upon inquiring, he said, he began getting conflicting reports about what happened. He was told that Ramkarran was out partying with friends and was also in the company of a young woman. Later, he was told that Ramkarran ended up at a beer garden.
The family arrived at the Lyken’s Funeral Home in city shortly after the body was transported there by police. Trim said Ramkarran’s left eye was swollen and his neck appeared broken, but apart from that there were no other marks on his body. The man said the police did not inform them how Ramkarran died or the circumstances surrounding his death.
At Bartica, a neighbour told this newspaper that the dead man would usually frequent Bhojedat’s bar with friends. The neighbour also confirmed that Ramkarran was a known character in the neighbourhood for petty crimes and persons in the area were convinced that he may have been trying to break into Bhojedat’s property.
