The contractor who was fatally chopped on Friday on the Annai Access Road had been trying to rescue a friend from two assailants, the police said yesterday.
In a statement, the police named the dead man as Aires Matthew. No address was given for him. The friend who was injured in the attack has been named as Radesh Phulya.
According to the police, Matthew and Phulya, along with three other colleagues were in a white canter vehicle parked on the Annai Access Road, consuming beers.
Phulya reported that he was suddenly pulled out of the canter by the two attackers. One was armed with a cutlass and he started to chop Phulya about his body. Matthew tried to intervene to stop the attack and the assailant chopped him on the right forearm and the chest.
The three colleagues of Matthew and Phulya fled. The assailants drove away in a car after inflicting the wounds. Matthew and Phulya were later placed in the white canter vehicle and escorted to the Annai Health Centre where the latter was treated and is in a stable condition. However, Matthew was pronounced dead on arrival by Doctor Joseph. The matter was reported to the Annai Police Station.
The information the police have received so far is that the attack was as a result of Phulya speaking to a female teacher earlier in the night at the Tractor Bar. Statements are being taken and efforts are being made to apprehend the suspects.
On Saturday, Toshao of Annai Michael Williams had told this newspaper of the murder.
“I get a call early this morning and someone ask me if I hear about the murder last night [Friday] and I said no. I wake up and then I went and investigate and it was then I found out that is one of the contractors that building concrete bridges was murdered,” he related.
Williams said that eyewitnesses related that a car with three persons, including a woman, was trailing Matthew and his coworkers.
“The people in the car had their cutlass and the other boys didn’t have anything so what they did is jump in their canter and drive away and they drive about 20 minutes into Surama Village and they went to the Health Post. The worker there called the doctor and he said that they should come back to Annai and while they were driving back the man give up. When he reach the hospital the doctor pronounced he dead,” the Village Leader said.
