Defence Force slams conspiracy theories in soldier’s death

Samaroo was found dead on Tuesday last week in his quarters at Camp Cumuto. He had a single bullet wound to his head and police have determined that his death was as a result of suicide.

However, there have been calls from Opposition Senator, attorney Gerald Ramdeen, his colleague Wayne Sturge and most recently Couva South MP Rudranath Indarsingh to have an independent inquiry conducted into Samaroo’s death to prove that foul play was not involved.

In a statement to the media yesterday, the TTDF called on members of the public to desist from making false and unsubstantiated remarks and to allow his relatives, friends and co-workers to grieve in peace.

However Ramdeen, admitting that he has not been retained by Samaroo’s family to seek their interest, told Newsday yesterday that the TTDF has failed to address questions which have been raised in the public domain.

“Senator Sturge has already indicated to the Chief of Defence Staff that if an independent inquiry is not carried out it would be pursued in court,” Ramdeen said.

“The TTDF has a duty in law to hold an independent inquiry into the death of any soldier. It seems very curious that the TTDF has not answered any questions that are lingering in the public domain. And while everyone respects the loss of life, there is a duty on the part of the Chief of Defence Staff, the Attorney General and the Ministry of National Security to not only do what is right, but what is lawful in this situation.” It had been suggested by Ramdeen that Samaroo’s body bore bruises, that three of his ribs were broken, and the gun which he is said to have use to kill himself had not been found.

The TTDF denied this saying the autopsy confirmed that Samaroo died as a result of a single gunshot wound to the head and there were no other marks of violence on his body.

The TTDF said the public must be reminded that in similar occasions in the past, the death of any service member which occurs on a military establishment automatically triggers a Board of Inquiry.

“Such an inquiry is a compulsory requirement of the Defence Act and serves as an internal investigation geared towards finding the cause(s) of a serious incident and, by extension, improving the organisation’s systems, processes and procedures.” Samaroo was cremated on Saturday at the Caroni Cremation Site.