THE post-mortem examination expected to be performed on the body of murdered Bellevue, West Bank Demerara construction worker, 20-year-old Godfrey Jhaggroo, has been postponed to Monday.Relatives of the deceased yesterday told this publication that the fourth suspect — the son of the Community Policing Group (CPG) Chairman who owns the shotgun — remained at large up to press time. He is believed to be the shooter.

The man disappeared after Godfrey Jhaggroo had been killed a short distance from his home on Wednesday night, December 18,
Jhaggroo’s relatives have reportedly been informed that the police are shortly expected to issue a wanted bulletin for the CPG Chairman’s son.

 Prelude to a disaster
Godfrey Jhaggroo had reportedly returned home from work on December 18, and had expressed displeasure over the remote control of a DVD player being broken, precipitating a quarrel with his mother, during which their next door neighbour, a rum shop operator, intervened and a heated argument ensued. The male neighbour eventually lashed Jhaggroo to the stomach with a piece of wood.

Jhaggroo was en route to the Wales Police Station to report the incident when he was confronted at Bellevue by three men, one of whom was a licensed firearm holder, and was fatally shot to the back of his head with a shotgun at about 19:00 hours on December 18, 2013.

Jaggroo was pronounced dead on arrival at the West Demerara Regional Hospital (WDRH).

Three men are in police custody assisting with the investigations.

Jhaggroo’s mother, Babita Jhaggroo, 40, of Lot 31 Bellevue, WBD, said she was at home at about 18:30 hours on Wednesday evening, December 18, when her son returned home from work and began quarrelling with her after he realised the remote control for the DVD player was broken.

They had an exchange of words, but suddenly their next door neighbour joined in the row. The grieving mother said that the man, who operates a rum shop, started to quarrel with them, saying that they were always making noise and disturbing the quiet of the neighbourhood.

She noted that a heated argument ensued, since her son told the man that it was a private matter between him and his mother, and he should mind his own business. This apparently annoyed the man, because he armed himself with a piece of wood and dealt her son a lash to his stomach, after which the wood bounced off the road and hit the man’s daughter.

She pointed out that her son was beaten in front of her yard, by the gate, and he clutched his stomach and collapsed to the ground. After he recovered and was making his way to the police station, he was killed.

The woman said she had retreated inside the house when she received a message that her son had been shot; and by the time she reached the road corner a few houses away, her son had already been placed into a vehicle and been taken away.

It was not until Thursday morning, December 19, that she got a glimpse of her son’s body, which bore a huge gunshot wound that left a gaping hole to the back of his head, and his stomach also had a wound.

The woman said that when she reached the scene of the shooting, she observed her neighbour picking up several spent shells from the road even before the police had arrived on the scene.

Godfrey Jhaggroo had allegedly been shot and killed by a shotgun fired at close range. Three shots had allegedly been discharged, eyewitnesses said. A post-mortem examination to be performed on Monday, December 23, would determine the exact cause of his death.
Written By Michel Outridge