Latest update March 19th, 2024 12:59 AM
Dec 15, 2018 News
Traffic Chief Linden Isles is confident that investigators will eventually apprehend the driver who left 15-year-old Karamchand Khemraj to die at Annandale, East Coast Demerara, after hitting down the teen and his friend, 16-year-old friend Reaz Shaw.
He said that while police have located the damaged bus, investigators are still to verify who was driving when the teens were struck down.
He noted that the bus owner, identified as a Chinese store owner, C. Wen, has other relatives. Mr. Wen’s whereabouts were still unknown up to yesterday.
‘C’ Division Commander Calvin Brutus disclosed that police have not confirmed reports that Mr. Wen may be in Suriname. He said that police have circulated messages at various ports of entry in an attempt to locate the businessman.
According to Commander Brutus, surveillance footage had shown that “there is no doubt” that the bus, bearing registration number GWW 2140, was involved in the hit-and-run fatality.
He gave this response when queried as to reports that the vehicle has reportedly not been checked for possible traces of blood and other forensic evidence.
Yesterday, some sources expressed concern that forensic experts from CID Headquarters, Eve Leary, were not called in to check the damaged bus for possible traces of blood, fibre and hair.
A source explained that while all divisions have their own Crime Scene ranks, they are not equipped with chemicals such as luminol, which is used to detect trace amounts of blood at crime scenes.
Crime Scene ranks from ‘C’ Division had examined the vehicle, but were reportedly unable to conduct a full examination.
A source explained that “time is of the essence,” since evidence such as blood could be washed away.
According to a source, the Crime Scene experts should have been summoned to examine the vehicle at the scene where it was located.
“There should be minimal movement of the vehicle until it is examined,” the source said. “You would look for indentations and hair and fibres. Time is of the essence, since rain could wash away hair and fibres. You would also use luminol to check for blood.”
The vehicle, with shattered windscreen, and damage to the left side, was located on Thursday at a makeshift bakery, which is owned by a female Chinese national.
Relatives of the two victims had said that two broken sections of a number plate were left near the scene. One part showed ‘GW’ and another part showed the numbers ‘40’.
On Thursday, Kaieteur News received information that there were two Silver Gray Toyota Hiace buses which bore number plates that were a close match to the broken plate.
One vehicle, bearing registration number GWW 2140, was registered to C. Wen of Lot 10 Vigilance ECD.
C. Wen, a Chinese national, is reportedly the proprietor of a supermarket, which is located a short distance from the Vigilance Police Station.
On visiting the location, a resident told Kaieteur News that he had not seen “the silver-grey bus”, which is used by the Chinese supermarket owner since Sunday night.
The source directed the reporter to Mon Repos where a bakery was located.
At that location, a tarpaulin-covered object was observed at the back.
A female Chinese national eventually came outside. On being questioned about the whereabouts of the man who drove the “silver bus,” the woman claimed that she had no idea what the reporter was referring to.
She left shortly after with another woman and a man who had arrived with a car.
Kaieteur News then contacted ranks at the Vigilance Police Station who eventually gained access to the bakery and upon lifting the tarpaulin, found the silver-grey Toyota Hiace minibus.
The number plates were missing, the windscreen was shattered and the front of the vehicle was damaged.
The vehicle was processed by police crime scene photographers and lodged at the Vigilance station.
The woman who had earlier abandoned the premises later turned up at the Vigilance Station with a lawyer.
She told investigators that a friend had left the vehicle at her premises while she was out. An employee allegedly told her that the bus owner said that he would return for the vehicle in a few days.
The woman also stated that she believed that the driver had gone to Suriname. Kaieteur News understands that she also alleged that she later learned that the vehicle was involved in an accident.
She was not detained.
Karamchand Khemraj was struck down and killed at around 19:00 hours on Sunday while towing his friend, Reaz Shaw, on the Annandale Public Road.
The driver fled the scene. Shaw remains in critical condition.
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