PRADEEP Roopnarine of Greenwich Park, East Bank Essequibo was found dead in a clump of bushes at Tuschen, EBE on Monday morning, approximately 12 hours after he had last been seen alive.

Reputed to be a heavy smoker, he had been the father of one, and used to earn a living by buying and reselling fish.

One of his sisters, who spoke with the Guyana Chronicle via telephone yesterday, identified herself as Sandra and explained that she and another brother had been out of the country for eight days, and were at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport early on Monday morning when they received the call that their brother was dead.

She said that before she left Guyana, she had cooked several meals for her brother and had placed them in the refrigerator. She had also instructed her brother not to touch her things in the shop that she operated, and he had promised to comply with her request.

She also explained that she had purchased him a pack of cigarettes, since she knew he had been a heavy smoker and was, in her words, “wayward”.

Sandra said her mother had received the call from a neighbour, who asked to speak with her since the neighbour was aware that she would be back in the country that morning. Sandra said the neighbour asked if she was aware that her brother had died, and she responded in the negative.

Sandra said she immediately telephoned another relative who lives close to where her brother’s body was found, and that relative went to identify the body and subsequently confirmed to them that the body was indeed that of their brother.

She and her brother also went to identify the body on their way from the airport.
Police sources on Tuesday confirmed that the body had no marks of violence when it was discovered. There are suspicions that the man may have smoked something harder than just cigarettes, since he had been smoking at the same location his body was discovered when he was last seen alive.

(Leroy Smith)