Detectives had no evidence against four initially arrested for businessman’s murder- Crime Chief

The men who were initially picked up two Fridays ago and then released

DEAD: Chunnilall Mannilall

Crime Chief Michael Kingston in defending the release from police custody, four persons who were initially arrested in connection with the murder of Essequibo Businessman and newspaper vendor Sham Bharat Chunnilall Mannilall, said that when those persons were first picked up, there was no evidence to link them to the crime.

Police in Essequibo has initially arrested four persons in connection with the crime on the night the man was murdered but when police detectives from Essequibo arrived in the division, they released those men and picked up three other young men who were later charged, placed before the courts and remanded for the crime.

It was after the three men were charged last week, that information surfaced that they were not the actual executors of the crime and that the four persons who were first picked up by the detectives in the division were the ones who carried out the act.

The men who were actually charged making their way into court last week accompanied by police ranks

“Let me go on record as saying that when the first set of people were arrested and question, we had no evidence to keep them in custody it was after they were released, we got a statement from a female that implicates them that warrants their re-arrest. Subsequent questioning and they of themselves give statements implicating themselves” Michael Kingston assertively indicated

The Crime Chief was asked if the force was looking to have the remanded men released from jail on a production order as they, the police, continue their investigations to ascertain if indeed they were part and parcel of the crime committed two Fridays ago on January 10, 2020.

“They will remain in custody while we continue our investigations there is no need at this point in time to hold any confrontation or anything, we will be seeking legal advice on this matter by tomorrow [Today Thursday]” the Crime Chief told BIG Smith News Watch

It was two days after the three persons were remanded that a young man who had lent his helmet to one of the men who later went on the robbery, approached the police to report that he lent his helmet to a young man who failed to return same.

The bandits who invaded the businessman’s home wore helmets to conceal their identities. The police in Essequibo lodged as part of their evidence, a helmet during the initial stages of the investigations which saw turned out to be the very helmet the young man claimed he lent his friend.

It was that bit of information that led to the rearresting of the initial four persons who were released by detectives from the Police Major Crimes Unit. While the three persons who are now on remand are said to have been at the actual crime scene, BIG Smith News Watch was told that they were part of the planning of the robbery which took place at the home of one of the suspects who was at the time celebrating a nine-day event for his newborn child.