OMADATT Basdeo and Mahesh Singh, who returned alive from a fishing expedition without two of their colleagues, are blaming each other for the tragedy as police investigations intensify.Samuel Dabideen, the 43-year-old captain of the vessel, and his 23-year-old son Arjohn Persaud are reportedly missing at sea. The men are from De Willem, West Coast Demerara.

Omadatt Basdeo, 32, called “Budha”, lives on the West Coast of Demerara; and Mahesh Singh, 35, lives at Cummings Lodge, East Coast Demerara.

Basdeo on Sunday gave police a statement in which he blamed Singh for the disappearance of the father and son, but Singh is reportedly not accepting blame and is saying that Basdeo should examine himself.

Reports are that the men left on the fishing expedition from the shores of Ruby, East Bank Essequibo on September 27, 2016. Relatives were told that the captain and his son went missing on September 29, but they received the information from the owner of the vessel only on Tuesday last.

Relatives said they were told that once on the high sea, Singh was left on the larger vessel to overlook the three men, who ventured out in a smaller boat with a 1,000-pound seine to catch fish. Singh eventually lost sight of the men, and decided to search the waters with the vessel. He gave up the search two days after the men went missing, and decided to return to Guyana, where the owner of the vessel was contacted and told what had occurred.

Basdeo claimed that the boat he and the two others were in capsized, and he swam three miles before reaching the shores of Trinidad, where he sought the assistance of the police and coast guard there.

Relatives say they have obtained a letter from the Ministry of Public Security to send to Trinidad to assist with the search for the missing men.

“We would like all the neighbouring countries to assist in reporting any sighting to the relevant authorities in Guyana, so we can know exactly what is happening,” one relative said.