Second slain bandit ID’d as UG graduate

Dec 17, 2014 News

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Computer scientist a few years ago, bandit in 2014; that’s how life turned out for 24-year-old Mahendra Sukull,

who was shot dead by police on Monday night during the robbery of a Montrose, East Coast Demerara supermarket.
Sukull, called ‘Vickey’ of Ramtahal Street, Prashad Nagar, was positively identified yesterday, hours after he and former policeman Warren Blue were shot dead during an armed confrontation with policemen.
There are reports that instead of surrendering to the lawmen after he was cornered inside the Lahago Supercentre, Sukull unwisely tried to shoot his way past them and was subsequently taken out.
Sukull’s involvement in the crime and subsequent death came as a shock to many of his friends who are at a loss as to why someone who had a potentially great career ahead of him would venture into armed robbery.
According to reports, Sukull came from a decent family and attended private school all the way up to the secondary level. He then gained a Diploma in Computer Science from the University of Guyana, after which he embarked on many private jobs that reportedly paid him well.
A popular local entertainment promoter expressed shock that the unidentified bandit in Monday night’s robbery turned out to be Sukull. The promoter would normally hire Sukull as a Graphics Designer whenever he had a big promotion. The last time this was done was about five months ago.
“It shocked me very much. I mean, yes, he had a short temper, but as a bandit robbing people? No man!” said the promoter, who added that he saw nothing that suggested that Sukull was into a life of crime.
The only sign that one could attach to the path that Sukull took was observed on his Facebook page.
It showed a portrait of Sukull pointing a handgun. It also had quotations such as “Me alone in this life”.
Incidentally, this newspaper understands that Sukull’s mother died two years ago.
“If you didn’t have proof that he was killed in a robbery, I would not believe,” the promoter added.
Sukull’s death also brings to light the difficulty the police have in identifying criminal suspects.
“It’s things like this that show why the police may never get to put a lid on crime, because they are guilty of profiling.

They will never suspect that someone with an image like Sukull would be involved in criminal activity. He could just do a crime and get away, and return to the scene, and the police will never suspect him,” a former detective told this newspaper.
Another friend, who spoke to this newspaper, described Sukull’s death as a shocking situation.
“This is not a man you would expect something like this from. He’s an educated chap,” the friend said.
He is bewildered by the fact that Sukull had linked up with the former fugitive cop, Warren Blue, to commit daring robberies, and wondered if Monday night’s robbery was the first time that he had perpetrated such an act.
“I wonder how a man could slip from being a normal, cool person to a life of robbing people. He wasn’t no  ‘Bad Boy’ type. I don’t know if he start using anything like drugs. But this is not the person that you would expect something like this from,” the friend said.
Meanwhile, Sabrina Blue, the older sister of Sukull’s slain accomplice Warren Blue, also got a shock when she learnt of her brother’s demise. She said that she received a message on Monday night that her brother had been shot dead and she immediately assumed that it had to do with his status as a fugitive from justice.
She said that at the time she had no idea that the former cop was involved in a robbery.
“I thought was catch he get catch, I didn’t know was a robbery he went on,” Sabrina Blue said.
According to the woman, the last time she last saw her brother was two years ago, the day after the shooting of Shaquille Grant in Agricola. Since then an Arrest Warrant was issued for him to face a murder charge relating to that incident.
She told Kaieteur News that her brother had told her that he was in the interior.
“I never saw him. He just used to call me.”
Sabrina Blue said that a few months ago she learnt that her brother had come out of the interior, suffering from malaria, but he did not disclose to her where he was staying.
While she is surprised that her sibling was involved in crime, she pointed to circumstances that might have led

him down that road.
“I think it might have been out of frustration; he didn’t have a job and nobody helping him, and he just decide to go on the bad side,” Sabrina Blue told this newspaper.
Some of Blue’s colleagues are convinced that Monday night was not the first time that he had been involved in criminal activity.
“Blue had to be doing crime since he was a police. Interdiction can’t turn you into a bandit just like that,” one of his colleagues stated.
Reports stated that after the robbery, Blue tried to shoot his way to safety, but was outgunned by police ranks and other public-spirited persons who had converged on the scene.
Those who worked with him during his days as a combat cop, are of the opinion that the well-trained Blue could have gotten away had it not been for the sheer numbers that were against him.
Police recovered a .32 pistol from Blue.
“If he had a bigger weapon, those young policemen who confronted him would have been in trouble,” one of his former colleagues stated.
Post mortem examinations will be performed on both bodies today before they are handed over to the respective families for burial.

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