Cop’s murder: INTERPOL issues Red Notice for wanted wife, husband

The International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL) has issued Red Notices for the two Guyanese wanted in connection with the murder of Police Constable Quincy Lewis.
On its website, INTERPOL states that Thakurdyal Samaroo and his wife Youseef Zahid, also known as Naqueeba Zahid Zafarali are wanted by Guyana for 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 Soesdyke-Linden Highway on Wednesday, April 12.
The following day, wanted bulletins were issued for Samaroo and his wife.
On April 24, Shafeek Vernom, also known as “Profit”, and Jamel Van Lewis were arraigned for the murder of Lewis, whose skeletal remains were unearthed in a shallow grave on April 19, almost three years after he went missing after leaving home for work.
Vernom, 25, of Ogle, East Coast Demerara (ECD), and Van Lewis, a 35-year-old of D’Urban Street, Georgetown, appeared before Senior Magistrate Leron Daly, who remanded them to prison. The case will continue on May 24.
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 local Police have issued wanted bulletins for the couple, Magistrate Daly, also issued warrants for their arrest.
They are believed to be the masterminds behind the Policeman’s murder.
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.