Two charged with murder of Crabwood Creek man who went missing

Satrohan Madray
Satrohan Madray

Two men were yesterday charged for the murder of Saeed Hamid, the missing Crabwood Creek man whose suspected burnt remains were discovered at Rosignol Village, West Coast Berbice.

Satrohan Madray, 31, of Rosignol Village, West Coast Berbice and Antonio Balrup, 31, of Reliance Village, East Canje and Bath Settlement, West Coast Berbice, yesterday appeared at the Fort Wellington Magistrate’s Court before Magistrate Rhondell Weaver.

The charge read that the duo on April 19 murdered Saeed Hamid.

Antonio Singh Balrup

The men, who were represented by Attorney at Law, Mursaline Bacchus, were not required to plead to the charge.  The charges could not be read the previous day as there were defects in the paperwork.

They will both return on July 17 to the Blairmont Magistrate’s Court for report.

The two men, who were arrested back in April, during the initial stages of the investigation were re-arrested two weeks ago, and after intense interrogation, they allegedly led investigators to the burnt remains suspected to be those of Saeed Hamid, 65.

Hamid was last seen leaving his Lot 41 Queenstown, Corriverton home, in mid-April.

Hamid had told a friend that he was heading to Rosignol Village, West Coast Berbice, to transact some business. His friend said that a man had purchased some items from him and Hamid wanted to collect the money owed to him.

In April, this newspaper spoke with the hire car driver who picked up Hamid from his home.

The driver noted that he had dropped Hamid off at the Berbice Bridge entrance, where he boarded another vehicle, which was waiting for him. “Right through someone calling him on his phone and he telling them he coming, he tell the person when we left, when we deh Rose Hall (Town), he tell the person on the phone he at Rose Hall, and then when we about to meet the bridge, the person call back and like them

Saeed Hamid

say they sending a car for him,” the driver, who had spoken on the condition of anonymity, later recalled.

 The call log of Hamid’s phone led investigators to the two suspects, who were re-arrested on June 13.

Meanwhile, the third accused, Asif Hamid who is presently remanded for the murder of a Corentyne farmer, whose body was discovered in a shallow grave dug under a mango tree in Hamid’s yard in 2015, is yet to appear in court. Asif Hamid is the son of Saeed Hamid.

The senior Hamid was one of the persons who gave evidence in the matter against his son.

The police are working on charging Hamid with being an accessory before the fact.