Seven persons are now in custody and police are searching for three others in connection with the gruesome murders of teenage cousins Isaiah and Joel Henry.
Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum yesterday con-firmed the arrests during a virtual press briefing, where he also said there was no evidence to suggest that the crime was politically-motivated, even as protests in Region Five over the killings intensified.
Initially, police arrested the owner of the coconut estate where the suspected crime scene was found, as well as the owner’s son and his handyman. However, they later arrested two of his labourers and yesterday two coconut vendors who also work with the farmer were taken into police custody.
The persons in custody reside in Cotton Tree Village, West Coast Ber-bice, and Number Five Village, West Coast Ber-bice, the Crime Chief said yesterday.
Blanhum added that no murder weapon/s were located as yet.
While he said there was no evidence to suggest that the crime was politically-motivated, Blanhum refus-ed to give any details about the suspected motive.
Meanwhile, a senior police source yesterday told Stabroek News that one of the primary suspects was transported to George-town for further ques-tioning.
According to the source, the two coconut vendors were arrested after ranks from the Major Crimes Unit received information that they would often visit the coconut estate in the backlands.
The source said, that they were told, that two of the suspects were seen in the area on the day that the teens went missing.
Blanhum yesterday took the opportunity to appeal to protesters to desist from obstructing investigators.
He noted that when ranks from the Major Crimes Unit arrived, they were denied entry to the suspected crime scene, while crime scene ranks were stuck in the region overnight on Monday.
‘No peace’
What started out as peaceful protesting on Sunday over the murders degenerated yesterday when road users were attacked.
The main access road in the region was blocked with old machinery, pieces of wood and tyres at several locations, includ-ing at Number 5, Bellevue, Number 28, Number 40 and Hopetown, resulting in the disruption of traffic for the entire day.
Hours after news broke on Sunday evening that the teens’ bodies were dis-covered, residents took to the streets to call for swift justice. There were chants of “No justice, no peace.”
A fire was first started at the bridge separating Number Four Village and Number Five Village, West Coast Berbice, resulting in a total shut down in traffic on Sunday evening also.
The protest on Monday quickly spread across the region, with persons taking to the streets to support the call for justice. However, yesterday the situation deteriorated after Joint Services members – including soldiers and firemen – were deployed on the ground to clear the road. This infuriated those gathered at various loca-tions, which resulted in a further attack on the persons who were caught in the protests.
Several trucks, cars and other vehicles were emptied, damaged or set ablaze, while some drivers and passengers were attacked and robbed.
At Number Five Village late Monday evening, some of the persons gathered set a truck afire in the middle of the road. The owner, Lakeram Persaud, of Number 36 Village, Corentyne, said, they last spoke with the truck driver around 2 pm on Monday, when he informed them that he was stuck in the traffic.
However, the driver has since related that around 7 pm, in Number Five Village, he was ordered out of the truck. “He still deh over deh trying to come over but he tell we how them people say because an Indian name deh on the truck them got to burn it down. Me lil son name deh on we truck. He say them take he out and put one cutlass on his neck and he tried to get away in somebody yard and the truck left middle the road and them light it,” Persaud explained.
Persaud, said he was told that before 8 pm, the truck, GXX 3749, was destroyed.
According to the devastated man, he bought the truck last year for $5.5 million to transport rice from Berbice to Georgetown. He said he was still paying in installments for the truck.
As of yesterday afternoon Persaud was unable to head over to Region Five to have a view of what was left of his truck, while the driver had not yet returned home.
Meanwhile, in Hopetown Village, West Coast Berbice, several trucks transporting paddy were emptied and then set on fire in the presence of the Joint Services on the ground.
According to a resident, three paddy trucks were seeking to pass after the blockage was cleared by soldiers on the ground.
However, the protesters demanded that the trucks empty their consignments then pass. Stabroek News was told that the drivers agreed to empty their trucks, after which the protesters set them ablaze one at a time.
Meanwhile, according to information gathered, the trucks belonged to a rice farmer of Number 3 Village, West Coast Berbice.
Recess
In Recess, Mahaicony, a mechanic was attacked by a group of young men while on his way home from his sister’s shop in his village. His daughter, Dr. Anesa Kandhai, said one of the persons was armed with a hammer, while the others were armed with wires, which they used to hit her father.
According to Kandhai, her father after leaving the shop was confronted by about 15 young men on bicycles at the head of his street, which caused him to slow his car, “Then they dragged him out and started beating him with the hammer and wire. He had a scuffle with them and they ended up hitting him in the head,” the woman said.
After the man was struck in his head, a resident then intervened and rescued him.
The man was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was treated before being discharged.
At least three other persons were assaulted in the same area, while a bus was set on fire.
Stabroek News was told that a large number of residents from Region Six were stuck in the middle of the protest since Sunday. One young woman said, “The soldiers came and cleared and some people got out but we were so far back in the traffic that we are still here.”
The young woman, who is with her husband and in-laws, sought refuge at a relative’s house.
Stabroek News was told that there was a standoff between residents and army ranks at Bush Lot Village, West Coast Berbice yesterday also.
Additionally, residents of New Amsterdam yesterday also held a peaceful protest supporting the call for justice the Henry cousins.
The bodies of Isaiah, 16 and Joel, 18, were found on Sunday with multiple wounds, one day after they went missing after they left home to head to the backlands to pick coconuts. Residents of Region Five subsequently began a protest along the main public road in Number 5 Village, West Coast Berbice, over the murders.
