Businessman kidnap/murder…Cops intensify hunt for alleged mastermind

Apr 16, 2014 News

Police have intensified their hunt for a man described as “Tall Man” even as they prepare to charge three other persons for the kidnap and murder of businessman Rajendra Singh.
Ranks swooped down in the community of Albouystown after receiving information that “Tall Man” was hiding out there.
Kaieteur News understands that some of the persons in custody have fingered “Tall Man” as one of the main players in the crime.
The victim’s wife and his employees had described his abductors as a “tall man” and a “short one”.

Dead businessman Rajendra Singh

According to a source, one of the men said that he was recruited to be part of the kidnapping, but after taking the businessman to Goedverwagting, where Singh’s car was subsequently found abandoned, he had completed his role and did not know what transpired after.
He was not picked out by the victim’s wife and employees from an identification line-up.
Investigators believe that another suspect in custody was the organiser of the kidnapping since he was a known associate of the businessman.
“All the others are strangers, he is the only one who really knew him (victim),” the source said.
Another prime suspect reportedly admitted making the ransom calls.
A police source told this newspaper that while some of the persons have admitted being involved in some way in the kidnapping of Singh, they have all denied knowledge of his killing.
But a senior police officer told Kaieteur News that the men could still face charges for Singh’s murder.
“If you admit to kidnapping a man and he ends up dead, who do you think we will hold responsible?” the officer asked.
Investigators have prepared a report on the matter and the advice of the Director of Public Prosecutions will be sought, prior to the institution of charges.
A senior police official suggested that the state might try to use one of the persons in custody as a witness against his accomplices.
“We will have to charge him though, because you never know, he might renege on any deal.”
An attorney for one of the men currently awaiting charges told this newspaper that despite being beaten by investigators, his client has refused to sign a confession statement which was allegedly prepared by the police.
When asked about the other persons in custody, the source said that they were all linked to the crime by their cell phones.
However they have all given plausible explanations for this occurrence.
“All that the police have on these people is that their phone numbers were found in the businessman’s phone records, nothing else,” the attorney said.
Singh’s body with bullet wounds to the head was discovered in Le Repentir Cemetery a week ago, four days after he was kidnapped from his Foulis, Enmore, East Coast Demerara business place.
An initial ransom demand of $50M dollars was made and this figure was subsequently reduced by half.
The kidnappers had also warned Singh’s wife not to contact the police. They also demanded the tapes from the surveillance cameras that surrounded the business place.
But although relatives had gathered a part of the money, they never got the chance to hand it over to the kidnappers who apparently became impatient and murdered their victim.
Investigators are convinced that Singh was held captive in a location in the city shortly after he was abducted, despite reports that he was held in a house at Goedverwagting, a village located about five miles from where he was kidnapped.
Police in a press statement last Sunday said that ranks acted professionally and promptly, with respect to the information provided from the time Singh was kidnapped to present.
“We documented all the phone calls, so we have proof to substantiate that we acted responsibly,” a senior police official said.
He said that the kidnappers were very innovative, since the police had difficulty narrowing down their monitored telephone calls to any specific area.
“Most of the calls (from the kidnappers) were from cell sites in Georgetown. At one time we even got one from Vreed en Hoop and we searched the whole of Plastic City,” the official stated.