2 remanded for cop’s murder

Two men were arraigned on Monday for the murder of Police Constable Quincy Lewis, whose skeletal remains were unearthed in a shallow grave last Wednesday, almost three years after he went missing after leaving home for work.

Charged are Shafeek Vernom, also known as “Profit”, 25, of Ogle, East Coast Demerara (ECD), and Jamel Van Lewis, a 35-year-old of D’Urban Street, Georgetown.
They were not required to plead to the indictable charge for the capital offence of murder.
Senior Magistrate Leron Daly remanded them to prison until May 24.
Guyana Times understands that Vernom and Lewis were charged jointly along with 56-year-old Thakurdyal Samaroo and his wife Youseef Zahid, also known as Naqueeba Zahid Zafarali, both of Lot 7 Ogle Front, ECD. While the Police have issued wanted bulletins for the couple, Magistrate Daly, on Monday, issued warrants for their arrest.
They are believed to be the masterminds behind the Policeman’s murder.
After almost three years of mystery, detectives unearthed skeletal remains believed to be those of Constable Lewis in a shallow grave in a sandpit at Madewini, along the Soesdyk-Linden Highway on Wednesday, April 12.
The following day, wanted bulletins were issued for Samaroo and his wife.
Based on the information received, they are both out of the jurisdiction, and the Guyana Police Force (GPF) is using all legal avenues available to ensure that they are extradited to Guyana to answer allegations made in relation to the death of the cop.
The breakthrough in the Policeman’s disappearance came after intensive interrogation of Vernom and Lewis, who allegedly admitted that they had known about the killing of the cop.
They reportedly cooperated with investigators and pinpointed the location where Constable Lewis’s body was buried.

According to Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum, the missing Policeman was reportedly lured to a house on the East Bank of Demerara, where he was allegedly shot dead.
Constable Lewis was reportedly in a relationship with Samaroo’s wife.
While at the house, he was reportedly shot by Samaroo, after which his body was bound with plastic cable. The killer(s) then reportedly placed a black plastic bag over his head, and secured it with duct tape. The grave was already dug, according to the information reaching Guyana Times.
His body was then transported to Madewini, on the Linden-Soesdyke Highway, and buried.
On June 19, 2020, Lewis had visited his home at La Parfaite Harmonie, West Bank Demerara (WBD), to uplift a few pieces of clothing before boarding a vehicle.
Family members became aware that he was missing when the owner of the car in which he had left approached them four days later to collect his car.
The family had been under the impression that the Policeman was on duty at the Agricola Police Outpost and became alarmed when they were told he did not turn up for work.
Several efforts were made to contact Lewis by phone, but they were all in vain.
Closed-circuit television (CCTV) surveillance recordings later revealed that Lewis had crossed the Demerara Harbour Bridge, which is less than a 10-minute drive from where he was stationed at Agricola. He was last seen entering Greenfield Park, EBD.
Months after he disappeared, Lewis’s cell phone was found in the Timehri, EBD area with the screen cracked. The Police will be sending samples from the skeletal remains for DNA testing.
The case was solved by ranks of the GPF’s Major Crimes Investigations and Cold Case Units. (G1)