Female security guard murdered in Crane

– suspect held
Police are investigating the murder of a female security officer, who was found dead in her home early

Murdered: Latchmin Shivpujan called ‘Radika

yesterday morning.
The dead woman was identified as 49-year-old Latchmin Shivpujan called ‘Radika,’ of 3233 Crane Old Road, West Coast Demerara. The victim was a security guard attached to the Kalibur Investigative and Security Services.
Information reaching this publication is that screams were heard coming from Shivpujan’s tiny one-bedroom apartment sometime around midnight on Monday.
Although details of the incident remain sketchy, Kaieteur News has learnt that the woman lived alone; she occupied the lower flat of a two-storey house but was frequently visited by male friends; one of whom is currently in police custody assisting with investigations.
A resident living a short distance from where the incident occurred recalled that the police were called in during the night, but they only responded “at day clean.”
“You know how long the police get call, but dem only come till around (6:00 am) the next morning. By then she (Shivpujan) done stiff,” the resident stated.
The mother of two was found lying in a pool of blood. The victim bore several injuries including three stab wounds about her body. Shortly after the police arrived, Shivpujan’s body was removed from the apartment and transported to a nearby funeral parlour.
When Kaieteur News visited the scene of the crime, neighbours were reluctant to speak of the incident. However, a few residents described Shivpujan as ‘a friendly guard lady” who worked a short distance from where she lived.

The two-storey house located at Crane Old Road in which the body of the murdered security guard was found yesterday.

“I can’t tell you anything much about what happened to her last night, but I know she used to work security at the Lands and Surveys Office on the Public Road,” one woman stated. When contacted, Shivpujan’s former co-workers expressed shock at the news. They described the woman as an easy-going, chatty and friendly person, but noted she hardly spoke of her relatives.
“She only said that she has one sister who lives at Hague, (West Coast Demerara) and two children living outside (overseas).”
At the sister’s Hague, West Coast Demerara residence, relatives noted that they only learnt of the murder via the media.
Mahadai Singh, the woman‘s sister, told this publication that she had not spoken to Shivpujan for nearly two decades. Singh said that she and her sister were estranged because she did not agree with her (Shivpujan’s) lifestyle.
The woman claimed that several years ago, her sister had been living in Venezuela, but returned to Guyana with her two children.
“She come from Venezuela wid de two children and was staying by me, then she suddenly pick up sheself and lef’ de children behind and never look back.”
Singh said that she cared for the children for two months before she came to the realization that her sister was not coming back to get her children, hence she sent them back to Venezuela to live with their father. Singh said that since then her sister had shut her out of her life. She said Shivpujan refused to have anything to do with her eight siblings and other family members.
“Me had to send dem (children) back, but she been vex and seh that me tell people that she abandon she children, but me had no choice, she want to live she life and me can’t stop she, but me couldn’t look at the children. Me had me own children to look after.”
“She does keep away from everybody. She doesn’t even come around (us) because she always causing a problem …. The last thing I heard about she is that she was working at a security service and living in Crane. I can’t even tell you what she house look like, ‘cause me never been at she,” Singh added.
But although she did not share a close relationship with her sister, the woman noted that she is still curious about the circumstances surrounding her death.
Last evening, a police source confirmed that a male suspect, also a security officer, has been taken into custody for the murder. The suspect is said to have shared an intimate relationship with the woman prior to the incident.