Police said five men found dead in a bushy area off Race Course Road, Carapo, yesterday afternoon were shot execution-style. They were searching for a sixth victim who had not been found up to late yesterday.
The victims, two brothers, their uncle, an in-law and a close family friend, have been identified as Jimmy Sean Poon, 32, Avinash Sookraj, 32, Russell Poon, 53, Radesh Pooran, 54, and Ryan Sookraj, 27. Investigators, who went to the scene after receiving an anonymous tip, suspect the men were ambushed and executed as they were shot multiple times, some of them from behind.
The gruesome discoveries were made around 4.35 pm. Residents reported hearing several loud explosions shortly before the bodies were found.
A police source said officers went approximately 600 feet into a bushy area near a river where they stumbled upon two bodies.
One of the victims, clad in a white vest and black and grey pants shad gunshot wounds to the head.
About 120 feet away, two other bodies were found with gunshot wounds to the head. The fifth body was found in a makeshift shed on the riverbank, clad in a brown vest and pink short pants, also with gunshot wounds to the head.
Initial reports were that hits on the men, who were described by some villagers in Carapo as pests linked to several praedial larceny incidents in the area, had been ordered from inside the prison. However, that information could not be confirmed by investigators.
Relatives said the men, with another person who is still unaccounted for, had gone to the river to lime and fish. Several of them gathered near the scene yesterday as crime scene investigators processed the scene the bodies were removed.
Gerald Sookraj, 58, whose 32-year-old son Avinash was among the victims, told Guardian Media: “No parent really looks out for this news concerning their children.
He said his son was a “nice, quiet guy” who enjoyed hunting and fishing. He said Avinash loved horses and worked at the paddock at the Santa Rose Race Track. He lived with his grandparents in Carapo to be near his workplace, Sookraj said.
Another grief-stricken relative, 65-year-old Shakuntala Pooran, went to the scene after getting the news that her younger brother, Radesh Pooran, 64, was among the victims.
She said her brother, a father of seven used to work at the race track and liked to drink and lime.
“He was a person, he always making joke, he always had you laughing. He used to work very hard,” she said.
Pooran said she could not think of any reason why anyone would want to kill her brother.
Investigations are continuing.
(Trinidad Guardian)
