2000 murder suspect for court today

Deonarine Bhikhari, who was arrested 18 years after he allegedly murdered Daniel Singh of Enmore, East Coast Demerara (ECD), is expected to be arraigned today at the Vigilance Magistrate’s Court.
Bhikhari was arrested on Sunday last at Logwood, Enmore, ECD, by ranks of C Division (East Coast Demerara) for the heinous crime he allegedly committed in 2000. The Police ranks were reportedly acting on information received by people in the community about his whereabouts.
Forty-nine-year-old Daniel Singh, a single father, was living at Hope West, Enmore, ECD with his four children when the incident took place on May 21, 2000.
Guyana Times understands that Singh and Bhikhari usually had confrontations, since the suspect and Singh’s daughter, Nalini, had reportedly liked each other but Singh did not approve of this. At the time, the suspect was in his 30s while the young woman was in her late teens. It is, however, unclear what might have triggered Bhikhari’s actions on the day in question.
It was reported that Singh was on his front step when he was allegedly attacked by the cutlass wielding suspect, who also killed three of the family’s dogs, injured another, as well as Nalini during the brutal attack.
One of Singh’s then young sons had recalled being awakened by his sister’s screams, and upon looking through the window, he saw the attacker firing chops at his father. At the time, the daughter was shouting at the suspect, asking him what he was doing to her father. The man reportedly then turned his attention to her, also inflicting chops to both of her hands. She managed to escape, seeking refuge in a neighbour’s yard.
Meanwhile, two of Singh’s young sons were standing in shock watching helplessly as their unconscious father lay bleeding on the ground. Upon noticing that the attacker was charging towards them, the two young boys ran into the bedroom and locked the door.
After realising that he was unable to get the door open, the man reportedly left the yard by scaling the back fence and making good his escape, going into hiding for over a decade.
Singh’s badly injured body was picked up by neighbours who were awakened by screams and rushed to the hospital where he was admitted and subsequently died a few days later without regaining consciousness.
One of Singh’s now adult sons, Deochand, told Guyana Times that he had been trailing the suspect for several months and had even put out a reward for information that can lead to his apprehension.
Deochand, a Councillor at the Hope Neighbourhood Democratic Council, claimed that his father’s killer was never apprehended since he had connections with key members of the then Government, who allegedly had facilitated his escape to neighbouring Venezuela. However, he related that the man returned to Guyana a few years ago because of the crisis in that neighbouring country.
According to Deochand, after he had seen Bhikhari at a funeral a few months ago, he began to collect information and found out that he was staying at his sister’s house at Logwood. Deochand then contacted his attorney, and they accompanied Police ranks from the Enmore station to make the arrest.
Earlier in the week, it was reported that the Police were experiencing difficulties locating the necessary records that were taken at the time when the incident occurred.