Senior Reporter
jensen.lavende@guardian.co.tt
Two days after he told police he was chopped and in need of assistance, the body of Adrian Duff was found hog-tied and with several chop wounds in the Caroni River.
Speaking with Guardian Media yesterday, Duff’s cousin, Damian Maraj, said Duff sent him a “call me” request around 4.30 on Monday. When Maraj called back, however, there was no response.
Around 6 pm, police called and told him his cousin had also contacted them, saying he was in a cocoa estate in Las Lomas #3 and that he had been chopped. Maraj’s number was given as a contact.
Maraj said he immediately contacted relatives living in the area, and a search began. On Monday night, Maraj said a small fire was seen near a piece of land where nearby farmers had planted citrus, corn and pumpkin. The following day, Duff’s burnt bicycle was found near the land. While conducting further searches, drops of blood were found under tyres near where the bike was found.
The search party, led by Maraj, returned yesterday around 8.30 am and searched along the Caroni River, which ran parallel to the estate close to where the bike and blood were found on Tuesday. While searching along the bank, Maraj said he saw a crocus bag in the river and opposite it, he found the bloated body of his cousin with rope tied around his neck and legs, cuts to his body and one of his wrists almost severed.
Maraj said the murder of his cousin, who he said was more of a little brother than a cousin, comes six years after another cousin and Duff’s brother, Khemraj “Anish” Maraj, were murdered at his Las Lomas home. He believes the brothers were both murdered on May 18, the day Duff was last seen alive.
Asked about the family’s confidence that they will receive justice this time around, Maraj said, “I think this is more clear-cut than... than Anish’s situation because the situation that happened with Anish happened like 4 o’clock in the morning when it had a little bit of light. He was preparing himself to go to work and they attacked him under his house.”
Duff, who lived on the Caroni South Bank Road. Las Lomas, was described as a “Jack of all trades” who did odd jobs for a living and his killing has rocked his family.
“Everybody devastated. That’s got to be because he generally was a person, he gets along with everyone,” Maraj said, adding that many people took advantage of his kind nature.
That advantageous behaviour, Maraj suspects, led to his cousin being told to probably do something he was not supposed to in the farming community where his burnt bike was found.
“He lived for today. That’s the kind of guy he was. He lived for today.”
Maraj said his cousin “loved rum” but not so much that he would cause anyone harm in order to get a drink.
