Cops still seeking shooter, accomplice in Wakenaam businessman’s murder

Two men, including the driver who allegedly ran over businessman Mahendra Persaud after he was shot, are in custody, as the police continue to hunt for two others.

Mahendra Persaud
Mahendra Persaud

According to Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum, the driver was arrested on Thursday evening. Blanhum said investigators are pursuing two other persons, the shooter and an accomplice.

Twenty-six-year-old Persaud, called “Amar,” of Good Success, Wakenaam, was shot in the neck on Tuesday during the failed bid by two men, to relieve him of the $700,000 he had with him in a bag.

The incident occurred around 10.45 am at the corner of Regent and Alexander streets.

The second man in custody is the one who attempted to change the licence plate on the vehicle that ran over Persaud after the robbery. He was arrested on Tuesday afternoon.

The police, in a statement, had said Persaud was with his driver in a vehicle at Alexander and Regent streets, when he was attacked by a man armed with a gun. The man grabbed at a bag with money Persaud had in his possession as he exited the vehicle.

Police said Persaud resisted and a struggle ensued, during which he was shot to his neck. He fell on the road and was run over by a vehicle, police added. He was taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where he succumbed.

Meanwhile, a licensed firearm holder who was in the area, police said, intervened and there was an exchange of gunfire with the bandit, who escaped empty-handed.