…suspects accused him of stealing sheep

A YOUNG Berbice man was chopped to death and his body burnt after he was accused of stealing two sheep in the Number 55 Village, Corentyne area.
Divisional Commander Lyndon Alves has confirmed that the three suspects in custody have since confessed to brutally murdering Mahendra Ghanie, called Azad, and chopping him to pieces and then tried to get rid of the evidence by burning the remains to ashes and burying them in shallow graves. The heinous crime was committed on Ghanie after he allegedly stole two sheep the commander said.

The burnt and mutilated remains were found buried in two shallow graves a stone’s throw away from his former employer at Number 55 Village, East Berbice, Corentyne on Friday, a little after noon.

Ghanie called “Sanjay and Azad” was last seen on Monday when he left his Lot 190 Bloomfield Village, East Berbice-Corentyne home to his employer to collect payments that were owed to him. According to relatives, the young man was employed by a cattle farmer identified as “Bobby” who also owns a block making business. The young Ghanie was employed to make blocks and would usually stay over by his employer and return at the end of the week or fortnight depending on his workload. He reportedly left wearing a white shirt and pants and was to return with the money to give his mother who is due for a surgery on Monday. “He boss man call he and tell he fuh pick up greens and seasoning and suh when he coming, so he use his money to get it and then he went up to 55, but we didn’t hear from he,” Farine Ghanie a sister related.

She explained that since it is customary for him to stay over they did not think too much of the situation, but got worried when they tried calling his cellphone the following day and it was forwarded to voicemail. The family also tried calling the employer but the calls went unanswered and they subsequently decided to visit the employer. However, when they arrived on the following day (Wednesday) in the afternoon they saw one of the sons of the employer and he started acting strangely and ran away upon seeing them.
“After we ain’t hear from he and the boss man phone ring out we decide to go up the Wednesday afternoon. When we reach one a de boss sons did deh in front and when he see we he run away suh we start get worried and when we start fuh find out them say de boss man nah deh and they nah see Azad” a relative related.

The family returned home and explained to their sick mother who went the following day (Thursday) at the Number 51 Police Station and filed a missing person’s report for her son. The family managed to get in contact with “Bobby” and he denied knowing Azad and claimed he never worked with him.

Police were subsequently notified and a search of Bobby’s place unearthed a hammock belonging to Azad in his back yard. Based on this piece of evidence he was detained on Thursday evening along with one of his sons. The family continued to search throughout the night and on Friday morning at around 04:00 hrs, Azad’s older brother Razack Ghanie related he had a dream that his brother was in between two graves and he advised the family to search the burial ground for his little brother.

The family returned on Friday morning and started searching in the burial ground in the vicinity of where his employer lived and noticed a strange scent as well as two smoking pits. Upon closer investigation they noticed a red and white shirt which was given to Azad by his mother on one of the smoking pits and what appeared to be human bones. “When we reach we start smelling this thing and we could not say for sure where it coming from, but we notice the smoke and we follow it and see like something drag and a red and white shirt that mommy did give Azad on top and in the other pit we see something like bones so we call the police.”

When the police arrived they subsequently started digging the pits and found the chopped remains of a human that was almost burnt to ashes. This according to investigators was a carefully thought out plan to get rid of the body, since it was cut into small pieces and set alight with branches in one pit and after it was burnt to a certain extent it was dragged to the other pit where another fire was set with wood to completely burn it out. Among the bones were the remains of Azad’s cellphone which led the family to conclude that the remains are his.

As word spread more villagers started speaking out and recalled seeing “Bobby” and his sons acting strangely, especially with the fire, since they kept re-igniting the flames whenever it started to go out. “I see this thing blazing for days now, we had a funeral here yesterday and I smell the thing funny but didn’t think anything but now I remember seeing “Bobby” lighting back the fire every time it out and last night I see he small son moving funny,” a villager related to this newspaper. Another recalled that the usual talkative “Bobby” was very quiet and seems troubled. The police have since detained the son after the villagers spoke about his actions and he along with his brother and father remain in custody as investigations continue.

Inconsolable
Meanwhile, the mother of Azad was inconsolable and kept telling relatives she wanted to join her son in the afterlife. “He was my mother favourite, them two had a real bond and they would do anything for one another, mommy ain’t want do the surgery now she saying she want dead…cause she feel like is she responsible since he left to go collect the money to give she fuh de surgery…My brother was very helpful he didn’t deserve fuh die suh cruel,” Farine Ghanie related amidst sobs.