Fourth person held over Mon Repos businessman’s murder

Another man has been taken into custody as police continue to investigate the murder of Mon Repos businessman Pooran Lalchand, who was stabbed over a dozen times.

Although the identity of the man is still unclear, a relative of Lalchand told Stabroek News that he was implicated by one of the persons who has already been held as a suspect by police.

Lalchand’s two sons and a daughter-in-law remain in custody.

The property at the center of the dispute.
The property at the center of the dispute.

Meanwhile, according to one of Lalchand’s brothers, the autopsy that was performed on the body of the businessman revealed that he died as a result of multiple stab wounds.

Lalchand sustained a total of 14 stab wounds, including five in the region of his heart. His head was also bashed in with a heavy object, the dead man’s brother said.

Police on Tuesday went into Lalchand’s property in the company of his son after the man did not answer calls from customers.

Although Lalchand’s cellphone was missing, relatives maintain that robbery was not the motive since most of the valuables in the house were in place.

Pooran Lalchand
Pooran Lalchand

The businessman’s brother said he has learnt that Lalchand came out and opened the gate for a customer and returned to a rear entrance to access his business place at the bottom flat of his house.

From the indication of the trail of blood in the bottom flat of Lalchand’s house to where his body was discovered, it appeared that the businessman was dealt a blow to his head from the back entrance of his business place and a struggle may have ensued, resulting in his body being discovered closer to the front of the shop, a relative said.

The man’s property was the centre of a dispute between Lalchand and his sons, a relative said, while noting that the businessman’s sons were in possession of a transport for the property as was their father.

According to the relative, Lalchand’s house was sold for $12M about six months ago without the man’s knowledge. “He never even had a clue,” the relative related, while he explained that the sons would have collected $8M from the sale, which they split between themselves.

A close friend of Lalchand said that the businessman would normally visit him and spend extended hours complaining about the troubles he endured due to the property dispute, which was still engaging the court.

Lalchand’s friend said that since the businessman’s wife passed away three years ago, there was ongoing problems between the man and his sons.

One of Lalchand’s brothers was seen busy on Thursday cleaning the bloodstains and packing some of the goods in the shop, since he said that the police were in possession of the keys to the house and relatives could not previously access the building.

Relatives are preparing to pay final tributes to Lalchand on Saturday.