Relatives confused, hurt after carnage in Carapo leaves five dead

What should have been a relaxing Saturday afternoon for five Carapo men took a deadly turn when they were gunned down at their liming spot near their homes on Saturday afternoon.

The group of friends, which consisted of brothers Avinash Sookraj, 31, and Jimmy Poon, 25, their brother-in-law Radesh Pooran, 54, Russel Poon, 53, and neighbour Ryan Sookraj, 26, were shot dead in a forested area near Gangadeen River.

The men worked as labourers for the Santa Rosa race track as groomers and handymen.

Up to Sunday afternoon homicide investigators said they did not have a clear motive for the killings.

Newsday visited the family home of Avinash Sookraj and Jimmy Poon at Pinewood Drive on Sunday and spoke with relatives who said they were saddened and confused.

Their grandfather Sahadeo Poon told Newsday he could not think of any reason why the men were killed. He described them as hardworking young men who enjoyed liming and hunting.

"If I tell you I understand how or why this happened I would be lying to you.

"They were children to me. They didn't thief anybody thing. They were labourers. If they got a day work, they would go out and work. Sometimes they would go and hunt or maybe go to the river.

"To my knowing, my children had no enemies around here. To them everybody were friends."

Newsday also spoke to a female relative who strongly denied rumours that the men were stealing chickens when they were killed,
noting that there was no farmland nearby.

"Where over there has chickens? There is a farm further up the road, but they don't rear chickens over there and it's completely fenced around.

"They went out there to hunt and make a cook because they left here with alcohol.

"It's really hard for us. It isn't one or even two men that died, it was five! If they did something to deserve their death we wouldn't have thought much about it, but they weren't that kind of men."

The relative said she was supposed to go with the men to lime that afternoon but had to stay home to care for one of her grandchildren.

"He sat by the doorway and told me he was going to the river.

"I didn't think much of it because we weren't living in fear of anyone. This is something we didn't see coming at all."

Asked if she was concerned the killers could still be in the community, the relative said, "Anything could happen. Whether they still around or not, that is what I don't know."

Police said they believed one of the men may have been a witness in a 2018 double murder. When asked about this, relatives said they did not know if that was true.

Newsday visited the home of Ryan Sookraj who lived a short distance away on Pinewood Drive and spoke with his younger sister Sarah Sookraj who emotionally recalled her last conversation with him the day before his murder.

"He was speaking with his three-year-old daughter on the phone and he brought it for me to speak with her. I was busy cleaning at the time.

"To me it looks like he was in the wrong place at the wrong time because I don't see what the reason was for their deaths. I don't understand what they killed him for."

Sookraj's father Rajkumar Sookraj said he was still in shock after hearing about the murders and called for justice.

"These killings can't be going on the way that it is. Something has to be done. The higher ups need to do something about this."

Councillor for the area Judy Garner told Newsday she was at a loss for words after hearing about the incident.

"I was devastated to see five young men lose their lives. I don't know the circumstances behind it, but whatever the reason a person's life is precious and nothing can excuse or reasonable to do such a horrific act.

"Those were five fathers who have children who are now fatherless and have mothers without a son. It's a sad day for society because it shows we have no value for life."

Police in the Northern Division said there would be an increased police presence in the area in the coming weeks.