Police are investigating the murder of a West Coast Berbice (WCB) taxi driver who was killed in his home by alleged bandits during a robbery.
Dead: Mohamed Haniff
Dead is 47-year-old Mohamed Haniff of Lot 56 Experiment, West Coast Berbice.
Reports are three men entered his home at about 21:00h on Friday. Police said on Saturday that Haniff and his 44-year-old wife were at home when three masked men armed with a small handgun, a metal bar and cutlass barged into their home. According to Police, one of the suspects dealt the victim several chops to his head. Police said that the men then demanded cash and the victim claimed they had none, after which the suspects left the home and made good their escape in an unknown direction.
When this publication visited the home, family members were mum while one said there was no information that they were going to give to the media.
Residents in close proximity say they did not hear anything during the alleged robbery but were later informed.
According to the police, Haniff was picked up by a neighbour and rushed to the Fort Wellington Public Hospital, and later transferred to the New Amsterdam Public Hospital where he was admitted a patient in a serious condition but subsequently died at about 01:30h on Saturday.
This publication was informed that the man’s wife called a friend several villages away and reported the incident to him. That friend then called a neighbour, who called the police and then rushed over to the house where Haniff was seen lying in a pool of blood.
He had a chop to his forehead and one to the back of his head.
After speaking with investigators and allegedly giving conflicting stories, the woman was taken into custody.
The Major Crimes Unit has taken over the investigations.
Relatives told this publication that Haniff had allegedly discovered some financial transactions which he did not sanction, causing a disagreement between the couple. At the time of the attack, the couple’s son was not at home. Haniff returned to Guyana last Saturday and was on a one-week self-quarantine.
The couple’s daughter, Bibi Haniff, who lives next door with her husband, revealed that her father returned from St Marteen a week ago and had approximately US$8000 and gold jewellery in a bag hidden away. According to her, she was told that when the men entered the house, they demanded that her mother hand over the money and gold. She said that her father was in the bedroom while her mother was in the sitting room at the time of the incident. (G4)
