Woman shot dead in South store

A crowd of curious onlookers gathered at High Street San Fernando yesterday, after Angella Ragoonanansingh, a moneylender of San Fernando, was shot dead in a store. The woman reportedly went to the store to collect $100,000 she had lent to a businessman, but Ragoonanansingh, 46, received a bullet to the chest instead. The 40-year-old businessman was arrested by police and, up to late yesterday, was being interrogated by Homicide detectives. Ragoonanansingh, the secretary for a PNM party group in Cocoyea, was a mother of three, and her murder is the second in the busy shopping San Fernando district this year.  Three weeks ago, millionaire businessman Dr Ravi Maharajh was murdered at his home on Mon Chagrin Street. His killing remains unsolved.

The killing of Ragoonanansingh, whose husband Dave Ragoonanansingh is a URP and CEPEP contractor, brings the murder toll for the year to 46. According to a police report, Ragoonanansingh, of Kinkel Street, Cocoyea Village, went to a garment store in the Royal Castle building at High Street and Pointe-a-Pierre Road at 9.05 am yesterday. Police said Ragoonanansingh had a meeting with the proprietor, and preliminary investigations revealed that she had loaned the businessman money. Yesterday, Ragoonanansingh apparently went to collect an instalment of $100,000 on the loan. While in the store, the report stated, an argument broke out between Ragoonanansingh and the businessman. During the argument, the businessman whipped out his licensed firearm and shot Ragoonanansingh once in the chest. Ragoonansingh collapsed to the ground and died.

A party of police officers, including homicide detectives led by Insp Fitzgerald George, responded within minutes. Ragoonanansingh’s husband and her three children — two boys and a teenaged girl — arrived on the scene within minutes. The girl, who was in class at a nearby secondary school, was told about the incident and was escorted to the scene. District Medical Officer, Dr Ragoobar, ordered the removal of the body to the Forensic Science Centre in Port-of-Spain for an autopsy. The incident yesterday caused a stir in the city, with early-morning shoppers gazing into the store in horror.

San Fernando Mayor Ian Atherly, who also visited the scene, described the incident as a “society ill.” The mayor said, “I cannot anticipate that so much force could be used to shoot and kill a woman. We need to build the community and family values more. There is too much crime going on in the country, and now it has hit the city of San Fernando.” Insp Fitzgerald George of the Homicide Division (South) is investigating.