THE prime suspect, as well as two other persons, in the hacking to death of miner, Rishada Dusrajh, 29, of Station Street, Kitty, Georgetown, is in police custody and has since confessed to the brutal crime.The men have been identified as colleagues of the deceased and the main suspect and Dusrajh, called “Tali or Taliban” used to oversee the operations of the mining camp at Oku Backdam, Puruni.

Detectives were told that the main suspect and the victim had a falling out and it was he who hacked Dusrajh to death but the other men assisted in the transportation of the body before it was dumped.

A relative of the deceased, who wished not to be named, told this publication that they first chopped Dusrajh to his face at about 3:30 pm on Saturday following an argument after a drinking spree.

She added that the men returned to drinking and left Dusrajh in the camp sleeping and when they returned later that evening he was dealt multiple chops about the body after which he was tied up and anchored by a wheel in an abandoned mining pit some distance away by his fellow miners.

After he was reported missing on Monday, the dredge owner travelled to the interior location where he launched a search and found the body. He then informed the relatives and the police. The suspects were arrested by public-spirited citizens and miners and handed over to the police.

The dredge owner told relatives of the deceased that after observing the amount of blood at the mining camp, it was impossible for Dusrajh to be alive and he initiated a search for his body.

The relative told this publication that Dusrajh was unmarried and had stayed about a year in the interior without visiting but would often call via cell phone.

She explained that he would stay by her whenever he came out of the ‘bush’ after a few months but sometimes he went to their hometown in Essequibo where her mother and brother reside.

Dusrajh spoke to his mother on Mother’s Day and his sister a few weeks ago and relatives first learnt about the tragic circumstances when a friend telephoned them to report he was missing and that something had happened to him.

She said he was a soldier but left the army and went to work in the interior as a miner but returned to take a job with a private security firm. However, after some time he returned to the interior where he spent most of his time working.

The grieving woman described her brother as a very easygoing and willing person who was friendly and had a way in getting along with people easily.

The body is at Lyken Funeral Parlour awaiting a post-mortem on Friday.

Police in a press release said they are conducting investigations into the circumstances surrounding the death of miner Rishada Dusrajh, 29, of Station Street, Kitty, whose body was found in an abandoned mining pit at Oku Backdam, Puruni, on July 28, 2015, with a wound to his throat.

Three men are in police custody assisting with the investigations.

This year the Guyana Police Force recorded 29 disorderly murders which took place mostly in the interior, while in 2014 they tallied 15 which shows an 81% increase in these types of murders.