Police have been told that Mahendra Ghanie, the youth whose burnt remains are suspected to have been found at Number 55 Village Corentyne on Friday afternoon, was killed after being accused of the theft of two goats from his employer.
A police source told Stabroek News that the employer, his son and a worker on Friday afternoon admitted to the murder of Ghanie, also known as ‘Sanjay,’ 21, of Lot 196 Bloomfield Village, Corentyne.
According to the source, the men claimed that Ghanie stole two goats from his employer, who is a cattle farmer, and a tile and block maker.
The source said the men told investigators that they struck Ghanie on his head, rendering him unconscious, after which they dragged his body to the back of the employer’s house, where a cemetery is located. The source related that the men claim they took the body to a shallow grave and set it on fire. However, in the wee hours of the next day, they returned and discovered that the lad’s body had not been destroyed. As a result, they took the body to another shallow location and set another fire in a bid to cover up their crime.
Investigators on Friday found what is suspected to be the lad’s remains in both shallow graves. While there was speculation that the men had dismembered the body then burnt the parts, their confessions claimed otherwise.
Although the investigation is still open, all three men are expected to be charged with Ghanie’s murder.
Ghanie, a block maker, was last heard from by relatives on Monday evening, when he told them he had arrived at his boss’ Number 55 Village home.
Zorrina Ghanie, 20, the missing man’s sister, had told Stabroek News that her brother received a call around 5 pm on Monday from his boss, who directed him to head to work in Number 55 Village. “He call and tell Sanjay he get some work to do and let he go. So, Sanjay go and around 8 he call and say he meet,” she added.
Zorrina stated that on Tuesday her family tried several times to call her brother on his cellular phone but the calls went unanswered. As a result, the family assumed that he was busy working.
However, on Wednesday morning, the man’s relatives became suspicious and headed to Number 55 Village to search. During the search, residents told Ghanie’s relatives the youth’s boss was seen lighting a “big fire” in the cemetery behind his house.
Zorrina noted that they reported Ghanie missing on Wednesday at the Whim Police Station and at the Number 51 Police Station. However, after residents related the information about the fire to the police, Ghanie’s boss was arrested on Thursday.
After his arrest, residents said they noticed the man’s sons lighting another fire behind their father’s house. As a result, one of the sons and a worker were also arrested.
Ghanie’s older brother, Razack, stated that on Friday the family decided to head to the location where the fires were reportedly lit. “Me and me cousins them go search again and I see a fire spot and two short piece of bone and me start juk more and me call me cousin and then we call the police,” he said. “We find like five pieces of bone and the police find a lot more when them come. Like them chop he up because is two different spot,” he added.
