A Crabwood Creek businessman has been held by police in connection with the murder of Surinamese national Lucien Agard, who was killed near his home at Number 59 Village Corentyne, Berbice on Friday night.
Agard, 30, a labourer of Lot 101 Number 59 Village was accused of stealing millions from the businessman some time last year, Stabroek News told.
Agard is believed to have been fatally shot by unknown men on Friday evening. Police had said that he was found on the roadway in front of his residence with a suspected bullet wound to the head.
A police source, when asked if the man was fatally shot, said that it appears to be so, but a post-mortem examination would have to be done to make a conclusive determination.
Agard previously lived at Crabwood Creek and members of his family said yesterday that although the robbery accusation was never proven in court, it forced him to move with his wife and three children from the area to Number 59 Village, where he lived with relatives.
Disrikha Bhola, also known as Tricia, 18, who was Agard’s common-law wife, told this newspaper that before they moved to Number 59 Village, there were rumours that the businessman had told persons that he would pay to kill Agard, Bhola herself and another person.
When asked if they made a report of the threat, Bhola said they had told police about the situation but never formally reported it.
According to police sources, the businessman in custody had reported that Agard and another man robbed him of $7 million. The two men had worked with the businessman. A source said that the other man who was accused in the robbery was released on $50,000 bail.
Agard’s mother, who arrived in Guyana from Suriname yesterday, said she was not aware of her son being involved in a dispute with anyone. She added that his only brush with the law was his illegal entry into Guyana, for which he had been fined $25,000 at the Whim Magistrate’s Court. He subsequently returned to Guyana after some time to look after his three children, family members said.
Bhola had said Agard left home on Friday evening to go to a shop in nearby Number 58 Village to purchase groceries.
The woman, who was upstairs in their home, soon heard a strange noise, which she suspected to be a gunshot. “I hear something fiya off, me na know is what but it sounded like a gunshot,” she said, adding that she then peeped through her window and saw persons moving around whilst her husband stood close to their fence.
Bhola said Agard screamed out to her. “He seh, ‘Tricia dem get gun!” she recalled, adding that she then heard him questioning the gunmen, “Wa meh do bhai? Wa meh do bhai?”
Afterward, she took their children, who were in the living room, to their bedroom, where she stayed for a few minutes. “I wait in the room to see if meh gon hear anything else but the place turn quiet and I come out,” she said, adding that she then raised an alarm and called out to Agard’s uncle, who lives in the house in front of them.
Agard’s uncle, Mahase Dyal, later said that after Bhola called out, he rushed to the scene where he found Agard lying motionless in a curved position. He added that a wound was seen on Agard’s forehead.
It was Dyal who called the police, who arrived about 15 minutes later to investigate.
