GEORGETOWN (AFP) — Police said Friday they recovered a gun used in Saturday's massacre of 11 civilians in the their homes, and killed a leader of the gang also blamed for murdering three Canadians almost two years ago.
Using ballistic tests, authorities linked the gang to the death of Guyana's Agriculture Minister, Satyadeow Sawh and two of his siblings -- all three naturalized Canadian citizens -- in April 2006.
Ballistic tests conducted on the AK-47 assault rifle, recovered after Wednesday's gun battle with at least 10 gangsters in Buxton village east of Guyana's capital Georgetown, confirmed that the weapon was used in slaying several of the four men, two women, three boys and two girls who were buried Thursday.
Police spokesman Ivelaw Whittaker said investigators and residents believe that the gang trekked across a wide expanse of grassland and sugar cane fields to Lusignan village where they slaughtered the people in their homes.
"Ballistics tests conducted on the AK-47 rifle recovered during the armed confrontation between the joint (security) services and armed gunmen in Buxton, east coast Demerara, matched the firearm with shells found at the scenes of the recent massacre," said Whittaker, adding that it was used in several other killings and robberies during the past several months.
Police further explained that 35 spent shells found at the scene of the Lusignan massacre match 18 other spent shells found at the scene of the April 2006 killing of Sawh, who was also a former Guyanese Ambassador to Venezuela.
The gunmen had invaded his home with almost military precision shortly after he, his brother Rampat Sawh and sister Pulmattie Persaud had returned from a late-night family-function. His wife, who hid in the bathroom, and two sons who were not at home escaped the grisly attack.
Police and soldiers on Friday continued their search for Guyana's most wanted fugitive, gang leader Rondell Rawlins, and his cohorts.
The security forces said they Wednesday's killed deputy gang leader Troy St. John and another suspected gang-member. Eleven other suspects, who were detained during house-to-house cordon and search operations in Buxton village, on Friday remained in custody, police said.
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