Missing teen's body found in rice field drain

•  murder suspected

The body of a teenager was found in a rice field at Dundee , Mahaicony yesterday with several marks of violence suggesting that he had been murdered.

According to reports from the area, 17-year-old Raymond Ali of Dundee who was employed at Burma Rice Mills had been reported missing since Tuesday.

It is reported, Ali left his home on Tuesday for work as usual.

However, when he did not return home at the time he normally did, his family became worried. Knowing the nature of Ali's job though, they assumed that he had gone to Black Bush Polder to work and had probably missed the last boat that would have taken him to Rosignol.

After Ali did not return home the following morning, his elder brother telephoned the other persons who worked on the teen's team to find out whether they had gone to Black Bush Polder to work. However, Ali's colleagues said nobody went to Black Bush Polder.

Ali's family then decided to visit Burma Rice Mills where a manager reportedly said that the teen was last seen around noon on Tuesday when he made a report that another worker had burnt his shirt. Further investigations by the teen's brother revealed that Ali was the only employee, out of nine others from his team, who did not register the time he left work that day.

The relative said that Ali's brother became suspicious and immediately made a report to the police, since only his clothing was found at the location where the field workers usually changed their clothes. The other workers on Ali's team were called in, and along with police ranks, a search party was formed. It was the search party that found Ali's body in a rice field drain.

The teen's body was taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital , by police ranks, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. However, when the body was found, he was still bleeding profusely from his ear, suggesting that he was beaten in the head.

There are also reports that the teen's body bore several stab wounds and other marks of violence. Meanwhile a post-mortem is expected to be performed on the body Friday to determine the cause of death, after which it will be handed over to the relatives for burial.

Meanwhile according to reports from the area, Ali's eight colleagues were up to late last evening still in police custody assisting with investigations.