Slain barmaid’s employer among two held

Apr 26, 2014 News

– brothers released following ID parade

The employer of slain barmaid Jagwandai Ramnauth and a Cummings Lodge, East Coast Demerara man remained in custody yesterday, as police try to ascertain whether someone put a bullet into Ramnauth’s head because of an unpaid loan or a prolonged property dispute.
The suspects were taken into custody shortly after the 46-year-old Ramnauth, called ‘Selena’, was found dead on Wednesday night at the Country Club Restaurant and bar, located at Chateau Margot, East Coast Demerara.

Jagwandai Ramnauth

However, police released two other men yesterday after placing them on an identification parade. Kaieteur News understands that the released men are the sons of the still-detained Cummings Lodge resident.
Police have received reports that Ramnauth had sold a property in 2005 to the Cummings Lodge resident for $6M. It is alleged that the man gave Ramnauth $300,000, but then failed to complete the transaction after moving into the property. That matter is before the High Court.
But the man’s wife told Kaieteur News yesterday that Ramnauth had sold the property to another man after collecting the down-payment. She alleged that the man has been attempting to have them evicted and even threw some of the family’s belongings out yesterday.
Detectives are also probing reports that Ramnauth and her employer had a dispute over $500,000 that she had loaned him some time ago.
There are also reports that the barmaid, of Bath Settlement, Berbice, was killed hours after she threatened to quit her job due to months of unpaid salary.
Police in a press release said that Ramnauth was involved in an argument with a group of patrons at the night spot during which one of the men pulled out a firearm and fatally shot her to the head, then escaped.
Kaieteur News was informed that the owner was not at the bar when the incident occurred but he reportedly told investigators that he received a call shortly before 23:00hrs on Wednesday from a worker, who informed him that the barmaid had a “problem” with some people.
According to police sources, the owner claimed that he immediately went to the bar and found Ramnauth lying in a pool of blood behind the counter with a bullet wound to her forehead.
The man has been renting the property and operating a restaurant and bar for several years.
Rai Gurdat, one of the owners of the Chateau Margot property from which the business is operated, had told Kaieteur News said that he was asleep when police visited his home.
“I am staying at the back of the bar. I didn’t hear any music so I assumed business was slow. The police woke me up and ask if I heard any gunshots and I said no,” Gurdat said. He added that investigators took him to the bar and showed him Ramnauth’s body lying in a pool of blood on the floor.
“I was shocked and I panicked. I didn’t hear any gunshots. Selena used to work hard, from morning to night, and she didn’t get paid for almost a year. The morning before she was killed, she said to me that as soon as the boss pays her, she will leave,” Gurdat claimed.
Kaieteur News was informed that Ramnauth was not only a waitress at the bar but also manned the night spot whenever her employer was not around.
According to Gurdat, workers quit working at the bar due to non-payment of salary and “Selena had to do everything. In the morning, she made cutters and cleaned, and in the nights she served.”