Elderly man battered to death during suspected robbery

The relatively quiet community of Surat Drive, Triumph, East Coast Demerara was plunged into deep shock on Friday afternoon after the lifeless body of 88-year-old pensioner Dhruwa Ramnauth, also called “Uncle Dhrub,” was discovered in the kitchen of his home with his hands bound and his head smashed in. A ‘massala brick’ was reportedly found on his head.
According to information reaching this publication, the man, late of Lot 119 Surat Drive, Triumph ECD, had been operating a grocery shop at his residence for all his life, and this was not the first time he had been attacked.
The next-door neighbour, Sachin Singh, said he would usually call on Ramnauth just to check in with him. It was he who made the discovery of the elderly man’s

body.
“We were working and we were loading the truck, and my mother called me and I try calling Uncle Dhrub, and didn’t get no response from him. After that, I went to the fence and jump over; and when I jumped over I watch in the shop and see the shop ransack, and I watch in the kitchen and I see he tied up and a brick was on (his) head,” Singh related.
He said that despite their being next door, they had heard no strange noises, nor did they observe any strange movements. He also said that the neighbours would have seen Ramnauth during the day, since his shop had been opened during the morning hours. He added that after he made the discovery, he raised an alarm and the Police were summoned.
Sachin Singh’s father, Patrick Singh, reiterated that this is not the first time the late Ramnauth had been attacked. He recounted that the last attack had been just over a year ago, when Sachin had heard Ramnauth moaning in his house and had immediately rushed over, only to discover the man bound and lying on the floor in

pain.
The pensioner had lived alone; most of his relatives live overseas, and his nephew, Baliram Shivdas, would check in on him from time to time. Shivdas told Guyana Times that the last time he had seen his uncle alive was on Thursday, when he had visited the nearby mandir.
“I just get a call and my nephew came and tell me that this happened, and that is when I know. He said he heard that somebody break in and they attacked mamoo (uncle) and he died, and that is how I came. When I came, the Police (were) in here doing their investigation and taking statements,” Shivdas related.
“It (his body) was in the kitchen, and from all appearances he was going to eat, and the plate and all was on the ground; and they hit him, and he had a knock on the head, and it has something to do with the massala brick. It could have been that, I don’t know; he has a wound at the back at his head,” Shivdas related.
He said the place was ransacked, but he could not say what has gone missing since he had very little knowledge of what his uncle had in his house. He, like many of the residents, described the dead man as kind-hearted and someone who had had no malice with anyone.
The Police are conducting their investigations.