Body of pensioner with wound to head found on Coldingen roadway
– Police suspect he was robbed and killed
Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of a 64-year-old pensioner, whose body with a wound to the head was discovered around 06:30 hrs yesterday.
Dead: Roger Manikam
The body of Roger Manikam of Lot 237 Section B Non Pareil, East Coast Demerara (ECD) was found on the roadway along the Coldingen Railway Embankment.
Investigators believed that the father of two was killed during a robbery. They are basing their theory on the fact that the man’s pockets were emptied and “turned inside-out.”
There are reports that Manikam was carrying more than $100,000 on him when he met with his tragic death.
At his home yesterday, his daughter, Naline Manikam said that she last saw her father around 20:00 hrs on Saturday before she and her sibling retired to bed.
“I can’t really say what happened but when we got up the morning, we didn’t see him and that was unusual because he would normally be at home around that time. This was around 08:30 (hrs),” the young woman claimed.
She said that she made a few calls to persons nearby as well as family members to find out whether anyone had heard from her father but she got no information.
Suspecting that something was definitely wrong, the young woman said that she went to the Vigilance Police Station to report him missing—at this point she had no idea that a body had been found not far from their home.
“I went to the station and they ask me to describe him and then I come home. When I reach home, they called me and asked if I can go back. When I went, they ask me about his clothes and tell me to describe him and then they say that they found a body matching the description,” the younger Manikam said.
She added that she was taken to the Lyken Funeral Parlour where she positively identified her father.
Manikam said that she has no idea how her father left home but suggested that he might have left in a car to go somewhere. She could not say where he went.
“He did not know anyone around that area where his body was found and he doesn’t usually go around that area so we don’t know what really happened,” she claimed.
According to the daughter, he had over $100,000 on him at the time of his death. “He doesn’t leave his money at home. He would usually walk with it and the police said that he didn’t have any money or anything else when they found him.”
The daughter too believed that her father was robbed and killed.
“He would usually leave home without telling anyone but he does always come home. He never sleeps out,” the woman said.
Investigations are ongoing.