THE fishing boat which was gutted by fire Sunday morning had been abandoned at a koker after being damaged, said the owner, Taradev Ramana, of Quan Street, Vergenoegen, East Bank Essequibo. He told the Guyana Chronicle that, after the blaze, he received an anonymous telephone call threatening his daughter and he made a report at Leonora Police Station, West Coast Demerara.

Ramana said he is cooperating with the Police to the fullest of his knowledge and Divisional Commander Balram Persaud confirmed that the investigations are continuing.
Flames were seen around 00:30hrs on Sunday and an alarm was raised by a security guard of a nearby sawmill.
Ramana said he found his vessel, ‘Tarana’, engulfed after which he engaged the help of neighbours and family members to extinguish the conflagration that has left him with a loss of $2.5M and jobless.