Cops granted extension to hold suspects

AS the police continue their investigations into the murder of well-known Bourda Market vendor Troy Ramalho, the High Court on Tuesday granted the police a 72- hour extension to keep two suspects arrested in custody.

Ramalho, of 11 North Road, Lacytown, Georgetown, was shot around 23:00hrs on August 15, 2018, after he resisted the three men who were robbing him.
On Saturday, the first suspect, a 34-year-old taxi driver of Eccles, East Bank Demerara, was arrested and has admitted under interrogation to shuttling the three men who were responsible for the murder of Ramalho.

The second suspect was held on Monday.
The 45-year-old Troy Ramalho, who was well known for selling cheese and eggs in front of “Rambarrans” on Robb Street, in close proximity to Bourda Street, was doing what he had been doing for over two decades when the three bandits, one armed with a gun, ambushed him.

Reports indicate that police, acting on intelligence, arrested the taxi driver in Buxton, East Coast Demerara, on Saturday.
He reportedly told the police he picked up the men at Demico, Stabroek, Georgetown and they had asked him to drive to Robb Street, Georgetown, where the men identified their victim.

The taxi driver allegedly told the police that the men whom he met several months ago asked him to park on Alexander Street between Regent Street and North Road. The bandits then exited and a short while after he heard loud explosions that sounded like gunshots; he then saw the trio running towards the car.

In his getaway dash at the junction of Camp Street and North Road, a car slammed into his vehicle, causing it to spin and one of the men fell out. In the process, he saw the man run off and he then sped away, dropping off the other two at their Albouystown addresses.

The following day he collected $40,000 and decided to hide in Dairy, West Bank Demerara. The police have since seized the vehicle as investigations continue.
Ramalho was wearing a large quantity of gold jewellery on the night he was killed.