Man found hanging in cell at Maximum Security Prison

THE death of a prisoner found hanging in a cell at the Maximum Security Prison (MSP) on the evening of June 13 is being considered as "unclassified" until an autopsy is done.

A senior police source from the Homicide Bureau of Investigations (HBI) told Newsday by telephone on 14 June that they were awaiting the results of the autopsy to determine whether 33-year-old Dhanraj Seukumar, also known as Lallee, had died by suicide or was murdered.

Police said around 4.37 pm on June 13 officers from Arouca were on patrol when they received a report of a man found hanging in a cell at the MSP in Arouca.

When they got to the prison, they went to Block T (cell T-107) and saw Seukumar hanging from a multi-coloured bed sheet with his hands tied behind his back. He was already dead.

Police said around 3.55 pm on June 13 the prisoners of Block T were given dinner. While being locked down in their various cells, a prison officer was told of Seukumar trying to hang himself.

He tried to check through the cell window, but it was locked. He then went into the cell and found Seukumar's body.

A Newsday article from April 12, 2021, said Dhanraj Seukumar and Dinesh Roopnarine both of Isthmus Road, Point Galeota, Mayaro, were charged with the murder of their relative Naresh Suckram.

Suckram's murder took place on April 4. The 18-year-old crab vendor was close to his home when he allegedly got into an argument with Seukumar and Roopnarine.