Murdered cambio dealer was burnt alive – post mortem

Four days after popular cambio dealer Totaram Mootoo and his wife Basmattie Mootoo were killed in their posh Turkeyen home, police said on Monday that the couple died from smoke inhalation and might have been alive after a homemade bomb exploded.
To date, no arrest has been made for the couple’s death. Autopsies on Monday proved that Basmattie Mootoo died as a result of blunt trauma to the back, compounded with burn trauma, while her husband’s death was given as smoke inhalation and burn trauma.

The post-mortem examinations were performed by Dr Nehaul Singh on Monday at the Georgetown Public Hospital Mortuary. Crime Chief Seelall Persaud on Monday told Guyana Times International that the autopsies proved the couple died of smoke inhalation, which meant that they were breathing at the time the house exploded.
Seelall also added that Totaram’s hands were tied behind his back and his wife’s arm was around him when they were found. The police, he noted, have a few leads that they are working on and he remains optimistic that they will apprehend the murderers.
Relatives of the dead couple, when contacted on Monday, were reluctant to speak to the media following a report that was published in a newspaper which implied that the businessman had knowledge of the large guns and ammunition cache in Lethem. They were also furious that the article had also connected the couple’s murder to two men who were executed after they were fingered in “bad business”.
This publication understands that the killers may have been close associates to the businessman, since from all indications they were allowed access into the home. Sandra Ramdeo, a sister of the dead woman, had earlier indicated that a number of the man’s business associates owed him and a few days before his demise, he had asked for the money.
Information also suggested that the man might have had a confrontation before the couple was taken to their bedroom, where they used duct tape to tie the businessman’s hands behind his back. While it was speculated that the couple were shot, the autopsy proved differently.
It is also believed that the woman was struck from behind in her back before she was placed beside her husband. Further information stated that the killers then placed a 20-pound gas cylinder in the bedroom, which they removed from the bottom flat of the house.
The cylinder was reportedly placed at a strategic location in the bedroom and shot at with a high-powered rifle, causing a hole in the wall and soon after the house was in flames.
The charred remains of Totaram Mootoo, 54, and his wife Basmattie Mootoo, 48, were discovered on Friday morning.
They were reportedly in a hugging position when they were discovered. Persons in the neighbourhood disclosed that they heard sounds, believed to be those of gunshots, followed by a loud explosion.  Within minutes, the entire interior of the house was engulfed in flames. It was also reported that a suspicious car was seen leaving the area before the explosion and more so, the front door of the house and the back gate to the property were opened.