The
dead man’s wife, Shirmattie,
is consoled by relatives (left)
.A policeman uses a tracker dog to
assist in apprehending the
criminals (right).
The peace
and tranquility of the Letter
T Estate, at Mahaicony, were
shattered at around midday yesterday
when three armed bandits stormed the
home of the estate manager,
shooting him dead and
robbing his wife of a quantity of
cash and jewellery.
Muneshwar
Paragass, 31, who was employed with
the estate owned by a former senior
GuySuCo official, was shot in his
chest at point blank range from the
blast of a shotgun.
His body tumbled down the front stairs
of his house and lay sprawled on the
concrete below in a pool of blood.
The bandits also reportedly stole
Paragass’s shotgun before making
good their escape.
So far, the police have not yet
arrested anyone, although they used a
tracker dog to aid them in
apprehending the suspects.
Unsolved
murder
In a press release, police stated that
they are investigating the murder,
which occurred at about 11:55 hours
yesterday.
The police said that their
investigations have so far revealed
that Paragass, along with his wife,
Shirmattie, and his son, was at home
on the estate when they were alerted
to the presence of others by their
dogs barking.
A
cutlass
It is
reported that Muneshwar Paragass went
outside to check, and his wife then
heard a loud explosion and her husband
screaming.
She was
later confronted in the house by three
men, two of whom were armed with
firearms and the other with a cutlass.
They tied her up and took away $30,000
in cash, a quantity of jewellery and a
licensed 12-gauge shotgun before
escaping.
Shirmattie later managed to free
herself, and on checking found that
her husband Paragass had been shot in
his chest and had died.
A relative of the dead man related
that the couple, who lived in an
isolated house on the estate, had just
put their one-year-old son to sleep
when someone called out to Paragass by
his name.
According to the relative, upon
opening the door to see who it was,
Paragass was instantly shot, but he
still managed to call out to his wife,
who hid herself in a bedroom.
The bandits then entered the house and
proceeded to kick down the bedroom
door to get to the woman.
Upon succeeding, they demanded cash
and jewellery before tying up the
woman.
“They put the gun to the baby head
and threatened to shoot him,” the
relative told this newspaper.
The men shattered the door of a
wardrobe and took whatever cash and
jewellery they had found.
They relieved Shirmattie Paragass of
the jewellery she had on her person,
and even took those that her dead
husband was wearing.
The
wounded cow that caused the
accident.
After the
bandits left, the woman managed to
free herself, and first contacted
relatives, who subsequently informed
the police.
When this newspaper arrived at the
scene, Paragass’s body, which was
lying at the foot of the stairs, was
covered with a bed sheet and scores of
persons had converged to console
grieving relatives.
The dead man’s wife was too
distraught to be interviewed by this
newspaper.
“It had to be people who knew him,
because they called him by his
name,” said one relative.
Dawn Oudit, the wife of the owner of
the estate, which is located some 45
miles from the capital, told this
newspaper that they received the news
of Paragass’s death while they were
in Georgetown, and they immediately
travelled to the scene.
She described Paragass as a hard
working individual who was very
willing.
“He’s been with us for 17 years,
just out of high school. He started
out as an accounts clerk and worked
his way up, taking care of the
estate,” Mrs. Oudit said.
Meanwhile, employees of the Stabroek
News, who were on their way to the
murder scene, got a slight scare when
the car they were travelling in
collided with a cow on the Greenfield
Public Road.
According to reports, the cow emerged
from a cross street and ran into the
path of the Stabroek News vehicle.
There was nothing the driver could do
to avoid the collision.
Fortunately, no one was injured, but
the staff members were forced to hire
a taxi to continue their journey.
The cow was subsequently impounded.
Wednesday, January
21, 2009
