Off-duty Policeman chauffeured defendants to Wales Station

Boxing Night fatal stabbing

…submitted statement eight months later

Police Lance Corporal Benjamin Dufu, testifying at the ongoing Boxing Night fatal stabbing matter at the High Court, disclosed that he drove his motorcar, PRR 5757, into the Wales Police Station whilst giving defendants Vishawantie Ragnauth and Nyron Thakurdyal a lift.

The duo are on trial for the December 26, 2014 murder of 39-year-old miner Sunil Ramsundar at Patentia, West Bank Demerara (WBD).
At Thursday’s hearing, the witness, in his evidence-in-chief, told the court that he was stationed at the Ruimveldt Police Station, and while off-duty, he was dropping his wife home at Patentia after they had attended a family function in the nearby village of Good Intent. When passing to go home, he saw a male and female running on the southern side of the road, appearing to be ‘panicking and afraid’.
He realised that he knew the woman from the “Two Field”, Patentia area. Dufu said he knew her as “Shelly,” a name another witness had confirmed on Wednesday.
The jury also heard on Thursday that at about 22:15, Dufu went out on the Wales public road when he saw the same two persons standing on the road. He said he stopped his car and they went into the back seat, but the duo never said anything to him, or he to them.
“The male started talking on his cellphone, and I heard him say: ‘Pick me up at the park. One of them get stupid and I jook he up’. When I heard that, I realised that they might have committed an offence, so I drove my car into the Wales Police Station compound,” the Lance Corporal outlined.

Dufu said he reported the matter to Constable Solomon, who took the duo out of his vehicle. Lead by Prosecutor Lisa Cave, the witness said he became fearful that the man had a weapon in his possession, and noted that he only offered them a drop because it was ‘holiday time’ and because he had recognised the female.
Dufu claimed that he was going to take them to a ‘popular area’. He explained this to be either the Stanleytown junction, Bagotville junction, or at the Demerara Habour Bridge. He stressed that he was heading to Georgetown when he took them in, and that they were surprised when he took them to the Police Station. He added that they shouted: “Oh my God! Oh my God!” at that point, and he added that the man was using expletives as he was being removed.
Under cross-examination by the duo’s defence attorney, Nigel Hughes, Dufu admitted that eight months after his encounter with them, he provided Police with a statement. He claimed that one of the reasons why it took that long was due to him being informed that he would be told when to provide his statement, which he did in August, 2015.
He rebuffed Hughes’s suggestions that he was lying to the court. The matter continues before Justice Sandill Kissoon next week Monday.
According to Police reports, the incident occurred at about 22:00h on December 26, 2014, when Sunil Ramsundar’s sister was allegedly being assaulted by her daughter Vishawantie and Vishawantie’s reputed husband, Thakurdyal. At that time, reports stated, the now deceased man had intervened, and this reportedly resulted in a heated argument, during which Ramsundar was stabbed about his body. He collapsed on the spot, and was pronounced dead on arrival to the West Demerara Regional Hospital.