AT the break of dawn yesterday, the body of 19-year-old Ganesh Sookcharan of 788 Belle West, Canal No. 2, West Bank Demerara was spotted floating, face down, close to a koker, as the tide was taking it towards the Demerara River.

The police were called to the scene, as were relatives of the deceased.

Sookcharan had reportedly been the driver of the ill-fated car that plunged into a canal and claimed his life and those of his two other friends during a drinking spree. He had allegedly taken the vehicle without permission of his parents, and had driven it away while members of his family were asleep.

New reports are beginning to surface that the young men might have been heading to commit some form of illegal act when they met their demise. One of the men whose bodies had been found trapped in the car reportedly had a knife in his waist, while the other was said to have had two bottles of pepper spray in his possession.

Persons in the Belle West community are reportedly contending that the men had been a trio which would team up and discomfit persons of the community by committing robberies and other illegal acts against residents.

The bodies of 20-year-old Premraj Bhola of 661 Belle West Housing Scheme, Canal No.2, West Bank Demerara and 19-year-old Aleem Sulaman of 788 Belle West Housing Scheme, Canal No.2, West Bank Demerara were on Monday morning found trapped in the Toyota Fielder wagon after the submerged vehicle had been pulled from the main canal in the area.

Up to late Monday evening, residents and family members of 19-year-old Ganesh Sookcharan of 788 Belle West, Canal No. 2, West Bank Demerara had been searching for his body in the canal in which the vehicle had plunged, rightly suspecting that he had drowned.

By Leroy Smith