The beheaded man who was discovered Wednesday in Port-of-Spain has been identified as Nathan Maraj of Las Lomas.
Maraj’s head was found in a garbage heap along Pall Mall Street, East Dry River, around 5 am while the rest of his body was discovered stuffed in the trunk of a damaged white BMW car about seven hours after.
Police said the style of killing is similar to that of Mexican drug cartels who behead their victims and dismember their bodies to warn others that they are not to be messed with.
T&T Guardian spoke to Maraj’s relatives at the Forensic Science Centre in St James where they said they had not seen Maraj since Saturday.
Head of the Port-of-Spain Division, Snr Supt Johnny Abraham, said the decapitation was clearly a message sent to the individuals in the underworld. “Whoever did the killing sent this to some underworld group telling them that they could lose their men and so on,” Abraham said.
According to the police, the man’s head was found by Port-of-Spain City Corporation workers.
A nearby businessman said the car had been there since Tuesday morning and police were called to investigate but when they came they merely peered inside and left, he said. Officers returned later that day with a woman of East Indian descent. Again they looked through the car and opened the doors before leaving. The car, which was blocking the entrance to another business place, was then pushed aside by residents, but no one checked inside the trunk.
Yesterday, however, a stench emanating from the vehicle brought the realisation that something was amiss and again police were called. This time the trunk of the car was searched and the headless body found.