By Travis Chase | HGP Nightly News|
GEORGETOWN, GUYANA — The high-stakes homicide investigation into the March 2021 execution of gold dealer and motor racing enthusiast Ricardo Fagundes, popularly known as “Paper Shorts,” has dramatically intensified. Over the past 48 hours, the Guyana Police Force (GPF) has executed another high-profile arrest of an Eccles businessman and processed the voluntary surrender of a wanted mechanic. These rapid developments have triggered fierce legal backlash and fresh, public criticisms from Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed.
On Tuesday morning, tactical officers descended on the Eccles, East Bank Demerara home of Troy Singh, the owner of a local vehicle tinting establishment. Singh was taken into custody and initially processed at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Headquarters at Eve Leary before being transferred to the Kitty Police Station.
Singh’s defense attorney, Yuborn Allicock, has leveled explosive allegations against the Major Crimes Unit, accusing detectives of using duress to extract false testimony. Allicock claims investigators are aggressively trying to pressure his client into signing fabricated statements that implicate Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed in the murder conspiracy. According to the defense, Singh has adamantly denied any knowledge of the homicide, telling police he never tinted the white Toyota Fielder wagon believed to have served as the shooters’ getaway vehicle. Singh maintains that his only professional interactions with Mohamed involved carrying out standard tinting work on his high-end personal vehicles.
Key Developments in the Reopened Homicide File
The sudden expansion of the cold-case file has seen a succession of arrests, releases, and dramatic legal maneuvers this week:
- The Mechanic’s Surrender: Less than 24 hours after the GPF issued an official wanted bulletin for his arrest, Friendship Housing Scheme mechanic Satrohan Rajkumar, widely known as “Depo,” voluntarily surrendered to the Regional Division 4 “A” Headquarters at Eve Leary on Wednesday.
- The Getaway Vehicle Link: Investigators suspect that Rajkumar, accompanied by defense attorney Damien Da Silva, may have come into direct contact with the getaway vehicle before or after the Main Street execution.
- The $1 Million Station Bail Releases: The new arrests follow the Tuesday release of three initial suspects—Mark Richmond, Udoh Kanu (both former security guards for Mohamed’s Enterprise Security Service), and auto dealer Amarnauth Ramsook—on $1 million station bail each after being grilled by detectives for six days.
- The Destroyed Evidence: Ricardo Fagundes was gunned down on March 21, 2021, outside the Palm Court nightclub on Main Street by two armed men who immediately fled in a getaway car. The vehicle was subsequently found torched in Swan Village along the Soesdyke-Linden Highway.
[ THE GETAWAY VEHICLE TRACK ]
│
┌────────────────────────────┴────────────────────────────┐
▼ ▼
[ Auto Dealer Ramsook ] [ Tint Shop Owner Singh ]
- Queried on initial sale - Queried on tint application
- Released on $1M bail - Denies involvement; in custody
│ │
└────────────────────────────┬────────────────────────────┘
▼
[ Mechanic Rajkumar ("Depo") ]
- Wanted bulletin issued
- Voluntarily surrendered
- Suspected of handling vehicle
“They are target-hunting instead of investigating,” Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed charged in an explosive video statement posted to his official Facebook page. Mohamed accused the police of conducting a heavily biased, politically weaponized operation designed to systematically harass individuals associated with him, while deliberately ignoring key witnesses who possess material facts regarding the execution.
While the GPF’s Corporate Communications Unit has remained tight-lipped regarding the accusations of investigative coercion and political bias, senior officers maintain that the Major Crimes Unit is strictly following fresh, forensic leads. Under Guyana’s constitution, investigators have 72 hours to either charge or release Troy Singh, unless they secure a formal High Court extension. With both a mechanic and a tint-shop owner now facing intense interrogation, the GPF is working against the clock to finally tie the physical evidence of the getaway vehicle back to the intellectual authors of the brutal Main Street hit.
