Lead Editor – Investigations
asha.javeed@guardian.co.tt
Since the shocking discovery of his father’s body down a precipice at his Cunupia farm nine weeks ago, Rishi Mahadeo has knocked on every single door seeking justice for him.
To date, no homicide officer has been assigned to investigate the circumstances of how his father, Ramesh Mahadeo, died.
Ramesh, 71, a farmer for the past 20 years, was found in the pond of his ten-acre farm on April 15 by one of his employees.
At the time, the police had ruled his death as a suspected drowning.
Mahadeo, 43, told the Sunday Guardian that he had to fight to have a proper autopsy done and to get the police to take his father’s death seriously.
He has become frustrated and disillusioned by the process.
Mahadeo, the country manager for Champion X, a service company in the energy sector, observed that with all his connections and friends, he has not made any progress in uncovering the truth of his father’s death.
“The system failed us. And even the system to keep that system in check is failing us also. It’s a really sad situation,” he said.
On Wednesday evening, the BBC hosted World Questions at the Central Bank Auditorium.
Mahadeo, who attended the public event, raised the handling of his father’s death.
His question was the first to begin the debate.
He told the panel: “My father was a farmer plagued by crime until he was murdered on his farm two months ago. To date, no homicide detective has been assigned to us. Why have the past and present governments and the Police Service failed us on crime?”
Ramesh Mahadeo’s body was found in a pond down a precipice at his ten-acre farm in Cunupia on April 15.
Ramesh Mahadeo’s death
On April 15, Mahadeo received word that his father’s body had been found.
His brother, Shiva, was the first to alert him and his two sisters—Kshama and Rena Mahadeo–about the incident.
Mahadeo said that all his father’s belongings—his wallet and other items—were found at the side of the precipice.
The items missing were his money and his registered firearm.
Mahadeo said on the first encounter, the police classified his father’s death as an accidental drowning.
“In the farm, there is a precipice. It’s a 12-foot drop. So he was found there entangled in the roots. All his stuff was on the side—a piece of iron, his wallet, his phone, a multitool which he had. His firearm and his money were missing,” he said.
He said the discovery was made at midday and officers from the TTPS, ambulance, and the Fire Service came to the farm.
He lamented that the Fire Service did not want to retrieve the body and let the undertakers retrieve it.
“We don’t know why. The undertakers are not trained to wear a harness, they are not trained to use the body cage to bring it up. It was a total mess and the undertakers took about six hours to retrieve the body,” he recalled.
Following this, Mahadeo said the county’s District Medical Officer (DMO) came and said that he did not see any marks of violence.
“Obviously, those things would be more visual—no stab wounds, no gunshots or no bloody face,” he said.
Mahadeo alleged that the senior officer at the time made everyone pack up and leave.
He said the next day they tried to determine whether the body would be sent to the Forensic Science Centre but it was the intervention of a family friend who helped them get the body to ‘Forensics’ to do an autopsy.
“It took a while for the body to come, maybe four or five days because the first time the police weren’t there and then they sent it again. Just to schedule the thing was also difficult. It took about a week,” he said.
The autopsy revealed that he died from “blunt force injury to head, neck and chest associated with compression to neck.”
Mahadeo explained while they were busy trying to get the autopsy to determine the cause of death, the police were more focused on the lost firearm.
“They actually sent the Coast Guard inside the pond to try to find it. They came a few days after to collect the shotgun. Everything was about the firearm. Nobody was concerned about my dad’s death or how he died. They wanted to find the firearm which tells me they were more accountable for a firearm than a death. They never found it,” he said.
He said that when the results of the autopsy were shared with the police, it was only then they compiled a file and sent it on to homicide.
“It’s been weeks now. Nobody took camera footage. Nobody asked for his phone to read through messages. Nobody is asking questions,” he said frustratedly.
Slow systems
Mahadeo said that based on messages found on his father’s phone, people were threatening him.
“Time is passing. The longer time passes, the harder it is to solve,” he said.
Disillusioned by the pace of the TTPS, on May 15, one month after Ramesh’s death, Mahadeo went to the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) to make a report about the matter.
“They too said someone would call and assign an investigator but no one has called,” he said.
“I have used all my contacts to try and get people to investigate the matter but nobody’s really taking us on. I don’t even know if it can be classified as murder. All I know is that it is lost in the system,” he said.
The PCA confirmed that Mahadeo did make a report and that the matter was being investigated.
The Sunday Guardian spoke to the two officers at Cunupia Police Station who explained that the matter has been forwarded to homicide.
“It is under investigation. You have to appreciate that these things take time. They cannot be rushed. The file has been submitted to homicide. It’s not that nothing is being done,” the officer said.
Protecting farmers
Mahadeo described his father as “quite a successful businessman.”
A former baking specialist at Kiss, he toiled the land for the past 20 years.
“He specialised in Meyers lemons which he sold to major restaurants in T&T,” he said.
He observed that the family was a “private” one and telling their story to the media was a last resort as they felt they had no other option.
He observed that the Government of the day had called on the population to get into agriculture but had failed to protect farmers.
“My dad went to all their training programmes and got seeds from them. I mean, they do have an okay programme to help farmers start up, but there’s nothing there to protect them. Two years ago, somebody went and stole all his avocados, and it did something to the trees and the trees never bore again. Never. It affected his revenue. Imagine, farmers have to protect themselves,” he said.
Mahadeo said that depending on the day, his father would have more cash on him to pay daily paid workers.
“People were always stealing. He would go there in the night with his shotgun and would catch people and have to call the police. But he would have to do it. Police won’t help. They fail to protect farmers. They fail to investigate murders,” he said.
Mahadeo’s question on crime first on BBC World Service
Yesterday, the BBC premiered its World Questions programme which was recorded in T&T last Wednesday.
It was hosted by the BBC’s Jonny Dymond and featured Energy Minister and Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister Stuart Young, Opposition MP Anita Haynes, Economist Dr Marlene Attzs and CEO of the Heroes Foundation Lawrence Arjoon.
Mahadeo’s question on why past and present governments and the TTPS failed to address crime was the first.
“The responsibility falls to whoever is the Government in power,” Young admitted.
“I can assure you we are putting a lot of resources behind it. Are we where we need to be? Absolutely not,” he said.
“Crime is something that is affecting everywhere in the world ... but none of us wants to hear that. What are we doing about dealing with it right here in Trinidad and Tobago? We are trying to employ as much technology as possible, we are trying to boost the morale of the T&T Police Service. It is something that is a top priority for the Government.”
In response, Haynes said as a citizen it had been difficult in the last few years to be looking on at the escalating crime wave.
“We are already afraid. But what we aren’t hearing is that with the $5 billion put towards national security, or all of the interventions that are being proposed, we never hear at the end of the year or the end of a stipulated period any acknowledgment of what worked, what did not work or what could work better if we need certain improvements,” she said.
Attzs expressed concern that the TTPS was seen as a panacea.
“I think that is not a healthy approach. The T&T Police Service is an institution and unless we look at whether or not that institution is appropriately resourced, I mean both in terms of their human resources and financial resources etc, then they will really not be equipped to address the kinds of challenges that we are seeing in Trinidad and Tobago,” she said.
“It is very apparent that the nature of crime has changed and therefore your institutional framework has to be one that adapts to suit that changing dynamic. And it is not simply a question about a budgetary allocation” Attzs added.
Arjoon said honesty, trust and meaningful collaboration are critical to building a safe and sustainable society.
“We do not have a society that trusts. And that is me being honest. And it starts from our leadership come straight down,” he said
In response, Mahadeo told the audience his view on crime: “I think it has a lot to do with corruption in the Police Service.”
