Foulis, East Coast Demerara (ECD) auto spares dealer Rajendra “Sunil” Singh, who was kidnapped last Saturday evening was on Wednesday morning found with his throat slit and a bullet wound to his head in the Le Repentir Cemetery. The discovery was made around 10:15h.
Forty-year-old Singh, of Lot 15 Foulis, Enmore, was discovered with his hands tied behind his back with a piece of rope. A white cloth was also tied around his neck. Investigators confirmed that the man was strangled before his throat was slit and more so, they believed that he was tortured. Singh’s body bore several marks of violence, which indicated that he was severely beaten.
The businessman was clad in a pair of black socks, a pair of short blue pants, and a blue t-shirt, with fresh bloodstains around his body. He was tied to an abbey tree.
As the news spread about the discovery, several top-ranking police officers turned up at the scene to confirm that it was indeed the kidnapped businessman who had been killed. After several failed attempts by ranks of A Division to verify his identity, ranks from C Division were called in.
The businessman was positively identified by a tattoo on one of his arms by a close relative, who is also a police rank. A cousin of the dead man subsequently turned up at the scene, but there were no signs of the businessman’s immediate family.
The area was cordoned off, as crime scene officials conducted their investigations. Several pieces of evidence were collected and were taken for further analysis. His body was taken to the Lyken Funeral Home to await a post-mortem examination.
Guyana Times International understands that the man’s body was discovered by a Mayor and City Council worker Jagnarine Parboo, who was at the time looking for a water source. He told media operatives that as he was looking around the area, he saw the man lying face down clad in a pair of short pants and a jersey.
He added that he got scared and went to his boss’s office where he reported the incident. His boss, in turn, contacted the police who accompanied the man back to the scene. The man posited that he did not see much, since the police would have taken control of the area.
This publication further learnt that the man might have been killed in the wee hours of Wednesday since his body was still warm and the blood on his body was quite fresh.
This newspaper understands that the kidnappers would have contacted the family on Tuesday morning, requesting that the Gy$25 million ransom be dropped off at a certain location. The kidnappers reportedly contacted the family a while later and gave an ultimatum of 12:00 noon on Tuesday to deliver the money – a deadline the family did not meet.
Police ranks at the scene said the kidnappers initially wanted to kidnap the businessman’s 13-year-old son, but, instead, they captured him. Since the kidnapping, the man’s wife and son have not been seen in public.
Minutes after the kidnapping, the family was contacted and a ransom of Gy$50 million was demanded for the businessman’s safe return. On Monday, the kidnappers had phoned the businessman’s wife, requesting Gy$25 million instead after the initial amount could not be raised.
They also demanded that the family hand over the surveillance footage of the incident. In a release, police stated that they are investigating the incident.
