Teen, boat captain still missing

Nov 09, 2012 News

–    Relatives suspicious about ‘pirate attack’ reports
As ranks from the Coast Guard continue to search for two missing fishermen, relatives are becoming even more suspicious about claims that the victims were attacked by pirates.
Missing and feared dead are Ramkissoon Sukhan, a boat captain of Anna Catherina, West Coast Demerara, and 17-year-old Vickram Harrynandan, called ‘Andrew’, of Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara.

Missing: Vickram Harrynandan

Relatives said that they have received reports that pirates attacked the five-man fishing crew in Suriname waters last Monday. They said that the three survivors alleged that Sukhan was beaten, shot and dumped overboard while Harrynandan drowned after the pirates ordered the remaining crew members to jump from their vessel.
Denise Singh, the teen’s mother, told Kaieteur News yesterday that she last saw her son about nine days ago when he left for sea. She was told that the boat, with four other fishermen, departed from the Meadowbank Wharf.
Ms. Singh said that last Tuesday, the wife of one of the fishermen visited her home and asked her if she ‘had Limacol.’
Singh said that the question puzzled her and she responded in the negative. The woman left the yard, but returned shortly after and told the family that 17-year-old Vickram had perished at sea.
The distraught mother said that she refused to believe that her son was dead, but the following day the woman’s husband visited her and also claimed that the teen had perished.
According to Singh, the fisherman claimed that pirates had attacked the crew near Suriname. She said that the fisherman claimed that pirates took the captain into the cabin and that they could hear him screaming as he was beaten. He was reportedly then shot and thrown into the river.
Ms. Singh said that the fisherman also claimed that the pirates then ordered him and the other survivors to jump overboard.
According to the distraught mother, the man said that he assisted another fisherman in keeping Singh’s son afloat, since the teen was a poor swimmer. The fourth crew member, known as ‘Crabbie’, allegedly swam off in another direction.
Kaieteur News was told that the man alleged that he swam away from the teen and the other fisherman, in an effort to retrieve a bucket for them to cling to. Ms. Singh said that the man claimed that when he returned to where they were, he was told that the teen had drowned.
She related that the man said that they were eventually “rescued” by the same pirates who had attacked them.
The woman said that she went to the Meadowbank wharf the following day and was told by a fisherman that one of the men on the boat her son had worked on was overheard arguing over money. This report had added to her suspicion that she has not been given an accurate account of her son’s fate.

Missing: Ramkissoon Sukhan

Relatives of missing boat captain, Ramkissoon Sukhan, are also suspicious about the reports of his demise. They were told that Sukhan was hauling in the day’s catch when the gunmen allegedly struck. They were told that Sukhan was shot and thrown overboard.
It is alleged that the gunmen fled with the crew’s valuables but returned and took the victims to another boat which then took them to land.
However relatives of the missing man said they do not believe the crewmembers’ story.
“If people attack you boat they don’t come back to you to help you. We want the police to investigate this matter properly,” one relative said.