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East
Coast execution probe:
Ramesh Radcliffe, 45, proprietor of the Texaco Service Station at Strathspey, East Coast Demerara, and of Lot 126 Latchmie Street, South Better Hope, also on the East Coast, was shot several times about the body and head by two gunmen in an unmarked and unlit car, a close family friend said.
He
was executed just outside his home by the gunmen who had
been trailing him in a white car, relatives said. A
relative said his life had been threatened and his gas
station was shot up twice between last year and early this
year by unknown gunmen. Investigators
are looking into reports that his murder was triggered by a
dispute with rivals, sources said. The
relative said he had always talked of being a target and
often received threatening telephone calls from unknown men. The
other gas station owner was detained Thursday by
investigators and was still in custody at the Sparendaam
police station yesterday, according to the sources. They
said four persons, including the gas station proprietor and
an ex-cop, were being questioned at the station. Radcliffe
four years ago took over the Texaco service station at
Strathspey and was about to embark on another business deal,
relatives said. He
was the new franchise holder for the Texaco service station
at Success, also on the East Coast, which was scheduled to
be officially re-opened tomorrow. The
businessman was gunned down at about 21:40 hrs on Wednesday
as he was about to open the left side gate to drive his car
into the yard. Just
minutes before Radcliffe had stopped briefly to chat with a
friend and his wife sitting outside their yard nearby, the
family friend said. The
couple had noted that a car with no lights on and no licence
plate was trailing the gas station owner, but before they
could alert him by telephone they heard rapid gunshots. His
74-year-old mother, alone in the house at the time,
witnessed her son's execution. The
friend said she was as normal waiting on her son to return
home from working at the gas station when she peeked out a
front window and saw him fall, mortally wounded. Radcliffe's
wife recently left Guyana for the United States with their
son to enroll him in a university there, the family friend
said. Police
said 11 9mm spent shells and five warheads were recovered at
the scene. A
lone gunman on a motorcycle opened fire on the gas station
at about 01:45 hrs on November 29 last year. The
two employees who were on duty then said the gunman had
stopped in front of the gas station and fired about three
times before riding off. The bullets hit the walls and gas
pumps. Two
gunmen opened fire on four fuel pumps on January 5 this year
and the gas station was temporarily closed after this
shooting. The
gunmen, who arrived on foot, went into the petrol station
and discharged about 12 rounds which damaged all four of the
fuel pumps. In both instances the gunmen were not interested in cash because employees were not robbed.
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Unsolved murder
