– Venezuelans confess to crime after leading detectives to man’s head
Four days after he had been reported missing, the butchered and headless body of Berbice labourer Chetram Ramjattan, called “Buck Crab”, of Kilcoy Settlement, Corentyne, was found in a drain close to a house occupied by several Venezuelan nationals.
The headless body of the 43-year-old man was discovered on Thursday at about 07:00h in a trench situated in a yard not far from where he had lived.
According to his sister, he went missing on Saturday, and during the family’s search for him, they were prevented from entering the yard of the building occupied by the Venezuelan nationals.
The family subsequently received news that he had been killed and his body dumped. As such, the Police were contacted, and, together with family members, they went in search of the missing man.
“We search and we didn’t find anything; and so, after the place get dark, the Police say that they going away. But they arrest the two boys, and by the time we reach to the station, the Police loose them,” the sister said.
The man’s butchered body was eventually found on Thursday morning, and his sister had this to say: “This morning (Thursday) we call back the station and tell them that we going and search the same place, so the Police come. When the Police reach, my small brother go in the trench and find the body.”
Following the discovery, two men, aged respectively 25 and 28 years old, were taken into custody. Shortly after, Police returned to the scene, went into the building, and found Ramjattan’s head after a confession from the two men. A female Venezuelan national who resided at the house was also questioned, but was released.
Residents have since expressed shock at these developments. They say that Ramjattan had never harmed anyone in the community, and they believe that the murder might have been a case of mistaken identity. They believe the target had been Ramjattan’s brother, whom they described as “troublesome”.
“Is my small brother who does trouble the Venezuelans, not him. I don’t know if them make a mistake, but that brother more tall, the one that they kill shorter,” the sister added.
One resident, Mohindnauth Ramishwar, related that he had known the late Chetram Ramjattan for years, and he referred to him as having being a very quiet individual whom he could have gotten to do odd jobs in the yard.
“Nobody can talk bad about him. This morning I heard that they chopped out his head and had it in the house,” Ramishwar said.
According to Ramishwar, the last time he had seen Chetram Ramjattan was on Saturday, when he had appeared to be intoxicated and had visited his home and was having a conversation with his daughter.
Meanwhile, Chetram Ramjattan’s sister has said her brother’s body had several stab wounds and lacerations to the face.
Investigations are ongoing. (Andrew Carmichael)