Father claims pujari was present during son’s gruesome killing

October 20 2026

By Michael Jordan

The father of murdered six-year-old Orlando Jaikarran is claiming that a Hindu religious official whom he had consulted for advice was present when the child was killed in what investigators are probing as an alleged ritual killing.

Bharrat Jaikarran, also known as “Vijai”, reportedly made the claim as investigators continue to unravel the disturbing circumstances surrounding his son’s death.

Police have detained Ishwar Srikishun, 47, a ‘pujari’ who conducts religious ceremonies at a temple on Water Street, Bath Settlement, West Coast Berbice.

Jaikarran has been in custody since Thursday, October 15, when Orlando was reported missing.

The investigation took a grim turn following the discovery of what sources described as “ritualistic items” at a blood-soaked area along Waterloo Main Canal, Bath Settlement, where Orlando was allegedly chopped before his body was thrown into the water.

Investigators reportedly recovered items associated with religious rituals (camphor and agarbatti etc) from the scene, where large quantities of blood were also found.

Six cutlasses and other items were subsequently recovered from a residence in the community as detectives continued gathering evidence.

The full extent of the alleged brutality emerged on Tuesday, October 20, when Orlando’s partly decomposed remains were recovered from the canal.

The child’s body was missing its head and left hand, along with portions of one leg. His head has not been recovered.

A post-mortem examination conducted on Wednesday by Government Pathologist Dr Vivekanand Bridgemohan proved inconclusive, as the body was too badly decomposed for a definitive cause of death to be established.

The cause of death was therefore recorded as undetermined.

The disturbing findings have deepened the mystery surrounding the child’s final hours, as investigators work to establish the exact circumstances of his death and determine the roles, if any, played by those in custody.

Both Jaikarran and Srikishun remain at the centre of the ongoing investigation, as police continue to examine the evidence recovered from the alleged crime scene and the surrounding community.