– IAC calls for end to haemorrhaging of innocent lives
By Kizzy Coleman
Police have arrested and are interrogating a man for the murder of the two Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) rice farmers who were killed after bandits set their home ablaze on Sunday night.
Dead: Mohammed and Bibi Munir
Bibi Munir, 70, and her husband Mohammed Munir, 77, of Lot 16 Good Hope, East Bank Essequibo (EBE) were killed in the fire following a botched robbery.
Speaking with Guyana Times on Tuesday, Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum said that Police have one man in custody who is currently being questioned.
Late Sunday evening, pandemonium broke out at Good Hope when several armed men invaded the premises of the two prominent rice farmers and after not being able to gain access to them, torched their house burning them alive.
Eyewitnesses said that around 23:15h, gunshots were heard and upon investigation it was discovered that the house of the couple was on fire.
Neighbours of the victims ran out of their homes to render assistance to the couple who were heard yelling for help.
Residents of Good Hope as well as the Fire Service worked hard to save the couple, but all efforts proved futile as the grilled room that the couple had hidden in caved in trapping them inside.
They subsequently burnt to death which the post-mortem examination confirmed.
Meanwhile, the Indian Arrival Committee (IAC) in a release called for the haemorrhaging of innocent lives by crime to cease as this incident is the most recent in a spate of crimes in Guyana.
The IAC, in forthrightly condemning these latest incidents, called upon the authorities to immediately implement effective security measures to curb these attacks on Guyanese.
It is urging the authorities to ensure that security is given more importance as it believes that the fear that continues to be instilled in the hearts of the citizenry can no longer be tolerated.
The Committee noted that it has expressed similar sentiments in the past for countermeasures to be implemented as swiftly as possible so as to stop the haemorrhaging of innocent lives.
The IAC took the opportunity to express condolences to the immediate family and relatives of the victims and called on civil society to join in its call.
Meanwhile, late Tuesday afternoon, Mahendra Persaud, of Wakenaam, Essequibo, lost his life in Georgetown after being attacked and robbed by an armed bandit (see story on page 14).
