Arima man gunned down

AN Arima man yesterday became murder victim number 108. According to reports at about 10.15 am Wendell DeSilva, 69, was sitting in a car with a woman parked on Francois Street, Carenage, checking the payroll for his ten workers at a nearby jobsite. Two men approached the vehicle armed with a cutlass and a shotgun and ordered the contractor to “pass the money.” When De Silva resisted, one of the men pulled De Silva’s jersey over his face and shot him in the abdomen before running off.

The woman sitting at his side who was robbed of a cellphone and $60, pushed DeSilva aside, jumped in the driver’s seat and drove the injured man to the nearby Carenage Police Station. There, an officer drove the vehicle to the Carenage Health Centre where De Silva was pronounced dead on arrival. When Newsday visited the family’s Arima home they were too traumatised to speak to the press. Residents at Francois Street, where the murder took place, also refused to comment. Visiting the scene were Insp Walker, Sgt Perreria acting Sgt Adams and PC Hannibal Cpl Adams is continuing investigations.