Pujari’s fate hangs on fresh legal advice from DPP, police resubmit file

A decision on whether a religious leader will face criminal charges in connection with the murder of six-year-old Orlando Jaikarran remains outstanding, with police having resubmitted their investigative file for legal advice to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) after being directed to pursue additional evidence.
The development comes amid revelations about the investigation that led to the arrest of the child’s father, 45-year-old Bharrat Jaikarran, including surveillance footage and the seizure of six cutlasses.

Information reaching this publication indicates that investigators initially submitted a file containing evidence gathered concerning the religious leader, commonly referred to as a Pujari, for advice on possible criminal proceedings. The file was subsequently returned with instructions for additional investigations, which have since been undertaken.
The file has now been resubmitted, and police are awaiting further advice on how to proceed.
The Pujari remains in police custody after police obtained legal permission to further detain him as the investigation continues concerning allegations of his possible involvement in Orlando’s death.
During a search of his residence, police seized six cutlasses, which were submitted for forensic examination to determine whether they carried traces that could be linked to the child.
Investigators sought to establish whether any such traces could be matched using DNA reference samples obtained from Orlando’s parents and material recovered from his remains. The results of those examinations have not been confirmed.

Disappearance and investigations
The investigation began following Orlando’s disappearance from his home at Waterloo, Bath Settlement, West Coast Berbice (WCB), Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice). The Bath Primary School pupil was reported missing after his father indicated that he discovered the child was gone when he checked the following morning.
Police and residents subsequently mounted an extensive search, initially concentrating on the backdam areas surrounding the community. However, the investigation took a significant turn following Jaikarran’s arrest, when surveillance footage emerged showing him allegedly carrying his son along a street.
When confronted with the recording, Jaikarran initially denied being the individual captured on camera. Investigators subsequently drew his attention to details of the clothing worn by the person in the footage, including a shirt reportedly matching one he had worn. He then allegedly acknowledged that he was the person seen carrying the child.
Following the circulation of that recording, additional surveillance footage emerged showing an adult and child travelling on a motorcycle towards the Waterloo Main Canal. Although the recording was made at night and investigators could not positively identify the rider, the motorcycle’s colour reportedly corresponded with the colour of Jaikarran’s motorcycle.
Jaikarran is said to have denied being the rider captured in the second recording.
Following further questioning, however, he allegedly offered to show investigators where his son’s body was located.
He subsequently accompanied detectives to a location near the Waterloo Main Canal, where he pointed out what appeared to be blood and identified the spot as the scene of the alleged killing.
Jaikarran also implicated the Pujari, reportedly providing investigators with an account of the alleged killing and identifying the acts he claimed were committed by those involved.
Orlando’s badly decomposed and headless remains were recovered from the Waterloo Main Canal on October 20. The discovery marked a tragic end to the search for the six-year-old, whose disappearance had prompted widespread concern in the community.
During the search for six-year-old Orlando Jaikarran, investigators were reportedly combing the backdam when his father, Bharrat Jaikarran, asked a detective whether someone could be charged with murder if the victim’s body was never recovered. That question reportedly revived the investigators’ interest in his connection to an earlier suspected murder in the community nearly 18 years ago.
Jaikarran had been among those questioned following the disappearance of 33-year-old rice farmer Seeram Totaram called “Totes” of Bath Settlement, WCB, on December 21, 2008, after the rice farmer left home to make arrangements for agricultural work.
Two months later, on February 10, 2009, badly decomposed human remains believed to be Totaram’s were discovered in a fishing seine near the Cotton Tree foreshore after family members identified from the clothing. However, its condition prevented investigators from immediately establishing the deceased’s identity or determining the cause of death, prompting DNA testing.
Although several suspects had been investigated, including Jaikarran, no one was ever charged in connection with that suspected murder.

On remand
In the current case, Jaikarran appeared before Magistrate Shareefah Parks at the Weldaad Magistrate’s Court on Friday where he was charged with murdering his six-year-old son. He was not required to plead to the indictable charge and was remanded to prison.
During the proceedings, Jaikarran alleged that police had beaten and shocked him while he was in custody. He also indicated to the court that he wanted to identify the person responsible for Orlando’s death.
As he was leaving the courtroom, he accused the Pujari of committing the killing. Those allegations have not been established in court.
Police Prosecutor Sergeant Garfield Edwards informed the court that the prosecution’s case file had been completed, while inquiries concerning another suspect were continuing. The matter was transferred to the Fort Wellington Magistrate’s Court for November 12.
Jaikarran remains remanded on the murder charge, while the question of whether the Pujari will also face criminal proceedings rests on the outstanding legal advice.