•  deportee's driver held

Robin Mangar - Stabroek News

Detectives are questioning the driver of a deportee suspected of executing Eccles mechanic, Robin Mangar, last December, and there are reports that Mangar was slain after a gun-selling deal went wrong.

Kaieteur News understands that the driver was detained on Tuesday and is being grilled by police at Eve Leary.

Mangar's bullet-riddled body, wrapped in a blanket, was found in a house at Eccles, East Bank Demerara, on December 17, 2004.

Residents had recalled hearing several gunshots and seeing a car racing away from the house.

On the night that he was killed, the 26-year-old mechanic had left his home on a bicycle, after receiving a phone call.

According to information reaching Kaieteur News, Mangar had made an arrangement to sell a high-powered weapon to an associate.

However, a heated argument reportedly broke out between Mangar and the buyer over the price of the weapon.

The other man reportedly shot Mangar, after the mechanic refused to hand over the firearm.

Police have reportedly received information that the driver and two deportees who police are trying to track down were seen at the Eccles house on the day Mangar was killed. The house was also the home of a deportee, who has gone into hiding.

Residents said that Mangar had visited the house on several occasions.

Police later found the parts from a hijacked car, as well as other spares, in the house.

They believe that the slain mechanic and his associates were part of a carjacking and gun-running operation.

The day after Mangar's execution, a car belonging to the suspect was found abandoned at Vreed-en-Hoop, West Coast Demerara.

Police later learnt that the suspect had crashed the vehicle and had sought medical treatment at the West Demerara Regional Hospital .

Thursday, January 13, 2005