Five in custody for murder of Anna Catherina fisherman

Police have arrested five suspects who are accused of beating and stabbing 26-year-old fisherman, Monoff Azeem at his Anna Catherina, West Coast Demerara (WCD) house on Monday.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Police Headquarters said the five men approached Azeem, who is also called ‘Goat man’, at the Anna Catherina Sea Wall and accused him of chopping up their seine.

One of the suspects was armed with a cutlass while another was armed with a knife, the Police said.

“An argument ensued and the suspect with the knife dealt Azeem one stab to his lower right-side chest. Azeem ran a short distance before collapsing to the ground,” the Police explained.

Azeem was later picked up and taken to the hospital; he was pronounced dead.  The man’s body bore a wound to his chest and two cuts to his left arm.

It was also reported that the suspects fled the scene after attacking Azeem.

As they fled, Police said one of the suspects, who is a 28-year-old fisherman, ran towards his car bearing registration number, PLL 4734.

As he approached the car, officers who were patrolling the area stopped the man and arrested him. That suspect then pointed out the other suspects who were involved in the attack.

Irate residents, however, pushed the suspect’s car into a nearby gutter and set it on fire.

In an interview with the News Room on Monday, the dead man’s sister Bibi Shameeza Azeem said her brother was not the intended target of the attack but his brother-in-law was.

In fact, she said Azeem was not on the fishing boat on Sunday when an argument over the seine ensued.

“Eight guys come up to him and when he turn around they start to beat him and cuff him and then they take a knife and they stab he through and through he body.

“One stab kill my brother…They stab he, you could actually see through and through him,” the grieving woman said.

She added, “They stab wrong person… My brother was the wrong victim…The brother-in-law seh is he is the one who they come fah.

“My brother didn’t work on the boat yesterday (Sunday) that is why them seh they get wrong person.”

Shameeza said the family is pleading for justice.

“We asking fah justice. We need justice fah this…We need help,” she told the News Room.

A post-mortem examination is scheduled to be conducted on Azeem’s remains on Wednesday.