Charred remains near river

According to reports, at about 2.30 pm, Chunilal Mahabir, 25, went to a river bank at Bernard Street Extension in Felicity, to catch fish with his common-law wife and mother-in-law. After trying for a while and not catching anything, Mahabir decided to go further north along the bank to see if the fish were biting there.

It was then that he saw smoke and then the human remains. A report was immediately made to police. Speaking with Newsday yesterday, Mahabir said as he was walking along the bank, he noticed smoke and thought someone had burnt garbage along the river bank. As he investigated further, he saw the charred body.

A party of officers led by Ag Supt Paul as well as Inspector Douglas along with officers of Homicide Region III, Chaguanas CID and the Central Division Task Force visited the scene.

Crime Scene Investigators who examined the area, determined that the body was burnt using wood and car tyres. The right side of the body was burnt down to ashes.

The unidentified body was ordered removed to the Forensic Science Centre in St James by the District Medical Officer. Mahabir told Newsday that it was customary for himself and his family to go to the river off Bernard Street to catch fish and crabs, but since he discovered the body, he is now scared to return to the river.

“It is almost every other weekend we go to the river to catch fish and crab,” Mahabir said. “But now I am not so sure we should go back.

Suppose I and my family was there when the burning now started? It is a kind of scary area too, because it is in the mangrove area. I am thinking anything could happen in there, not just to me, but to my family.” Police sources last night called on members of the public especially those who have a loved one missing, to assist them in identifying the corpse. Homicide Region III detectives are continuing investigations