A  GUYANESE man,  43-year-old Azeem Ali, who had been living in the United States for some time now was kidnapped, bound, gagged, pistol whipped, shot and then set alight last week, police sources said.

The New York Daily News yesterday reported that there was a plot to “take out” residents of a Queens apartment house and neutralize its occupants. However, that move was not carried out in its entirety since the police as well as firefighters were summoned. The New York newspaper reported that the torched body of the Guyanese was found in the burnt-out apartment in Richmond Hill, early Sunday, February 24. The discovery led cops to 22-year-old Stephen Peters and 17-year-old Jason St. Hill, according to Queens District attorney, Richard Brown. On Friday, March 01 the police charged the pair with kidnapping, arson, murder, burglary and robbery. The alleged killers lived at 95th Avenue which is less than a block away from the targeted house on 116th St.  Peters and St. Hill were reportedly hired by a man. The man whose name was not mentioned wanted to kill tenants in the building, the police in that district reported to the New York  Daily News. Meanwhile the man is now believed to be hiding and the men who carried out the deadly act on Sunday were said to be thugs. The police are continuing their investigations as they seek to locate the man who as they put it paid the thugs to “take care of everyone in the building”. The Guyanese man was described by his neighbours as a hard working Guyanese immigrant who suffered vengeance in a terrifying death. The US newspaper which spoke with a police source reported that the hitmen barged into the apartment of the Guyanese man just before 2.30a.m. Sunday morning and carried out their deadly offensive against him. The intention was to move through the building carrying out similar acts on the rest of the occupants in the building but after an alarm was raised they set the apartment on fire to create a diversion to aid in their escape. Before being killed, however, the man handed over his ATM card and personal identification number but he was still allegedly shot in the head by the older of the two intruders, Stephen Peter. After the fire was set the fire brigade responded with more than one hundred firefighters to contain the blaze and prevent other buildings from igniting, the papers reported. Their diligent work resulted in the apartment building being saved and it was then that Azeem Ali’s body was discovered bound with electrical wire to his feet while his arms were bound with speaker wires as he lay in his bed. The man was shot execution style in the head according to a police source. No one else was reported as being injured as a result of the fire or assault which the men were paid to carry out. Both of the men have been arraigned and are being held without bail. If convicted for the crimes against the Guyanese, the men could face up to 25 years to life in prison.