Father wants to find missing taxi driver's body for burial

Monday, May 22, 2006




The father of missing taxi driver, Ramlall Lakha, has accepted that his son is no more but hopes that one day he would find his remains and give him a proper burial to bring closure to the issue. 

Rudolph Lakha of Public Road, La Grange, West Coast Demerara told Stabroek News he had given up hope of ever finding his son alive again. He spoke of his constant illness since his son disappeared. Lakha said it appeared the police had given up the case even before he did and he no longer visited any police station to keep the investigation alive. He said he has now accepted the tragic fact and there was nothing else he could do. 

The man had told this newspaper previously that he believed his son was killed and buried in the area behind the South Dakota Circuit since a search of the area had unearthed the shell of the young man's missing AT 103 Carina. The licence plate HB 2839 and a few items, which belonged to the young taxi driver were also found in the area. 

Lakha had taken a team of about 50 persons into the area in late March and after hours of searching they found the shell of the car. There, he had also encountered a young man who said he had knowledge of what had happened to his son. Lakha had said initially the man was reluctant to speak but when he was promised a small fee he spoke of a Canter that went into the area transporting things including car parts. 

The man was handed over to the police at the Timehri Police Station but a few days later he was released as the police said they had no evidence to keep the man in custody. "I don't understand, because the man say he know who kill meh son," the man said. Lakha said he returned to the area after the man was released but found nothing of significance. 

He said he had then visited Brickdam Police Station but was told that he should go to the Timehri Police Station as his son's car was found there. However, when he visited Timehri he was told to go to Sparendaam, as his son once lived in an area covered by that station. After travelling to that station he was told to return to Brickdam. 

"When I went back to Brickdam dem again tell me to go to Timehri but I just didn't go back because by this time me done fed-up and me pressure raising and I getting really sick. So I just accept dat me son dead and I hope I see he body someday," the man lamented. The police never issued a statement on the man's disappearance. 

It has been almost three months since Ramlall Lakha vanished. He was working as a taxi driver serving many areas but mainly West Coast Demerara. On the day he disappeared, persons recalled seeing him making rounds in the area. He was married and living on the East Coast and had dropped off his wife at her place of employment that morning. When he did not show up again, his wife contacted his relatives. 

He had reportedly picked up two persons and was last seen crossing the Demerara Harbour Bridge. Another taxi driver, Deonarine Sukhdeo, 21, who went missing in late March, was found dead last month.