A MINIBUS conductor is in police custody assisting with investigations following an incident in a minibus which left 52-year-old Basdeo Mangra dead. Police reported that at about 17:45 hrs on April 29, 2013, Basdeo Mangra , 52, of North Vryheid’s Lust, East Coast Demerara and his wife, were on their way to Georgetown in a route 44 minibus in which loud music was being played.
 
The volume of the music was affecting Basdeo Mangra’s wife and he asked the minibus conductor to turn down the volume. This request was made several times but to no avail as the conductor and the driver refused to lower the volume, police added.
 
An argument developed between Basdeo Mangra and the conductor, who was armed with an
ice-pick and a scuffle between the two men ensued in the vehicle.
 
At this stage, the driver stopped the vehicle in the vicinity of Kitty, Georgetown and ordered Basdeo Mangra and his wife out of the vehicle and drove away.
 
Police stated that the couple was later in another minibus en-route to West Demerara when Basdeo Mangra complained of feeling unwell. He was taken in the vehicle to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
 
However, at Mangra’s residence at Lot 57 Vryheid’s Lust North, East Coast Demerara, the man’s son, Pameshwar Mangra, 21, told the Guyana Chronicle that his father was cuffed to the back of the neck by the wayward minibus conductor.

He said that it was the blow that killed his father, who was on his way from Vryheid’s Lust to his mother’s brother wake at Goed Fortuin, West Bank Demerara when the incident occurred.

The younger Mangra added around 15:30 hrs on Monday he received the news that his loved one had succumbed following a melee with a minibus conductor.

The young man stated that his father’s untimely death has left the family in a state of shock since they were close and he supported them.

Basdeo Mangra is survived by five children, all males and was a well-known “carchi” maker and horse cart operator.