TRAVIS Joseph of Three Miles, Bartica was, on Sunday morning, awakened from his slumber by a burning sensation all over his body.A corrosive substance had been thrown on him, and doctors at the Bartica Hospital have reportedly confirmed that the corrosive substance was battery acid.

Information reaching the Guyana Chronicle indicates that the 27-year-old father of a two-month-old baby girl believes that the attack on him had been ordered by a Bartica-based Brazilian businessman who operates a nightclub and guest house.

His relatives suspect that the culprit behind the act is one of the Brazilian businessman’s present employees, and that the incident might have stemmed from Travis’s decision to alert the police about some illegal activities the businessman may be involved in.

Speaking with the Chronicle on Sunday afternoon, in a boat at the Bartica boat landing as he prepared to travel to Georgetown for further medical attention, Joseph explained that, at approximately 02.30 hrs on Sunday morning, whilst he was between sleep and wake, he heard someone approaching his room via the stairs to the house, which is shared by fifteen other persons.

He explained that after he no longer heard the footsteps, he returned to the position of lying on his back with his eyes closed; then he felt a liquid cascading his body, instantly followed by an intense burning sensation.

The corrosive substance has affected parts of his head, face, eyes, stomach and right arm. He was, up to late yesterday, still unable to open his eyes, but was preparing to see an Eye Specialist.

Joseph said that after the assailant had doused him with the substance, that person scaled the veranda and fled; but before his eyes became pasted shut, he had looked outside and had noticed a dark coloured car at the bottom of the hill, and his attacker joining the car, which later sped out of the area.

Joseph is contending that it has to be one of two persons who assaulted him with the substance, as only two persons had visited his home in the past, and had even made their way into his room, as they had both been his close friends.

According to the injured Joseph, he had decided to quit the businessman’s employ because the man had an issue with him socialising with persons from the community. Joseph said that each time he socialised, he was asked numerous questions by his employer and other staff, as they thought he had been plotting to have the business robbed. He denied ever plotting to rob his former employer, stating that he has in fact always looked out for the businessman. And to be treated the way he was treated on Sunday morning was not a fair return of gratitude.

Joseph and his brother contend that, for the past two weeks, they have been trailed everywhere they went, and that persons who were trailing them are known. The brothers explained that the men who were trailing them work for the businessman whom they suspect to be part of the plot to harm the 27-year-old. They said also that whenever they were trailed, the men who were trailing them did so in a manner that caused them to know they were being trailed.

The Josephs said that since they commenced living in Bartica, they have cultivated a reputation of having no issues with anyone, and this can be substantiated by records at the police station.

The Police are continuing their investigations into the matter. After the matter was reported, the police picked up a few persons, but they were subsequently released. Up to late yesterday afternoon, however, the police again picked up the businessman for questioning into the matter, and he was made to give a statement concerning the allegations being levelled against him and his staff.