Police have confirmed that the alleged bandit who shot and killed the Essequibo Coast newspaper vendor on Friday night is among four persons presently in custody.
Sham “Paperman” Munilall, 48, was killed when bandits attacked his family on Friday night at their Parcel 61 Queenstown, Essequibo Coast home.
In a statement on Sunday, the police said that ranks from the Major Crime Unit along with ranks of the Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) Division have since arrested four suspects – a female and three males, one of whom is alleged to be the shooter.
On the night in question, Munilall was barbequing at the front of the yard with a neighbour when the two bandits, both wearing helmets, and one armed with a gun and the other with a cutlass, scaled the fence from the southern side. They attacked his wife, Rita, who was at the front door of the flat house.
Upon seeing his wife captured by the bandits who were trying to gain entry into his home, Munilall attacked the perpetrators with a yard rake. In retaliation, however, the gunman opened fire at the father of two, shooting him four times about his body before escaping by scaling the fence again.
The 48-year-old man was hit to his chest, shoulder and right-side abdomen, causing him to collapse. He was rushed to the Suddie Public Hospital and was pronounced dead on arrival.
However, family members of the now-dead newspaper vendor are alleging that information was leaked to the bandits that the man had collected money from the bank.
Relatives told Inews that Munilall had collected some money on Thursday from the bank and was keeping the money at home since he was going to restart his chicken business.
The amount collected was a sum of $125,000, which was a part payment on the loan taken from the bank. However, when the two bandits attacked the Munilall family on Friday night, they directly demanded the $125,000 he collected from the bank.
Relatives believe that someone from the bank might have been in collusion with the bandits and passed on information. They noted too that one of the suspects in custody used to live in close proximity to the Munilalls. They believe he is the mastermind behind the attack.
