The teenager who was found dead in a trench on the Burma Rice Research Station farm on Wednesday was strangled to death, according to a post-mortem done yesterday.

The youngster, Raymond Ali of Airy Hall, Mahaicony who went missing on Tuesday was laid to rest yesterday. He leaves to mourn three siblings and his parents.

Seven of his workmates, all of who are below the age of 25, are now in police custody but the manager of the farm is adamant that none of them was involved in the killing.

"I don't know who did what, but I don't believe those guys (the arrested workers) killed him. I don't even believe that he was murdered," the farm manager said.

Police sources told Stabroek News that the men who have been arrested have been giving conflicting statements and while no one has admitted to killing the youth, a few of them have been crying.

Ali's relatives were in tears yesterday as they buried him and vowed to fight for justice. On the day of the discovery police had held eight workmates, among who were three females. The women have since been released and two other men were taken into custody on Thursday.

Reports are that the females had used a different dam to get out of the farm. Ali had left his parents' home on Tuesday morning to go to work. He did not return home that night and around midday Wednesday his body was fished out of a two-foot deep trench in the Burma Research Station farm. At the time he was found wearing three shirts, one of which was not his. His relatives said further they observed what appeared to be lacerations on his neck, chop marks on his face and a few digs about his body.

"I spoke to one of the detectives after the post-mortem and he said to me that my brother was murdered and that he was strangled," Zaman Ali, the dead teen's brother told Stabroek News yesterday.

Relatives said from what they knew, Ali did not have any problems with any of his workmates. However, residents said the men would normally make rough jokes while on the farm.

According to Zaman, when they discovered Ali's body it was next to a fertiliser bag which looked stained and blood was oozing through his ears and mouth. He said from all indications his brother was killed sometime around 4 pm on Tuesday and dumped in the trench.

Relatives said a woman who works at the station had told them she saw Ali around 3:30 pm on Tuesday afternoon on the farm. The woman said that around the said time she saw him, some of his colleagues were racing towards a shed where they would normally change their clothes. Ali who was retrenched and only recently rehired at the station worked as a labourer on the farm where he would report for duty at 7 am and leave at 3:30 pm.

Relatives said a bus would normally transport Ali and other workers home on a daily basis and on Tuesday afternoon when he did not return home they became very worried. However, they remembered that sometimes he would work at Black Bush Polder and this would cause him to get home late.

Wednesday morning when he did not return home relatives went to the station and after they got no proper answer they proceeded to make a report to the police.

The farm manager told Stabroek News that around 11 am on Wednesday a policeman along with scores of Ali's relatives and some of the workers proceeded to search the farm. The manager said the searchers separated into two groups and he headed one. During the search, the cop observed Ali's red cap floating in the trench where his body was eventually found. He then called on one of the workers to go in and search. It was at this point the worker came out with the teenager's body.

The manager insisted that Ali and other workers went out on their normal course of duty on Tuesday under the supervision of Elijha Adams. Adams said during the day he did not observe any friction among the men and Ali was his usual jovial self. Adams said around 3:30 pm the men finished working and as is customary some ran to the changing area, while others walked. He added that some had even taken different routes to get to the changing area. Adams said as supervisor it was not his duty to oversee whether the workers signed out to go home and whether they joined the bus which takes staff home.

It was confirmed that all except Ali signed-off duty that day. Asked why no one checked to see if Ali had signed out for the day, the manager said from time to time the supervisor would assign persons to work overtime and this would usually be communicated to him the next day. He said that Ali not signing out on Tuesday afternoon was no strange occurrence to him.

Saying that he was shocked on hearing that Ali had died, the manager told this newspaper that he had received reports that the teenager was happy all day and there was no problem on the farm. Adams could not recall if anyone was left on the farm after the 3:30 pm knock-off time. Stabroek News was told that besides staff, strangers can also access the farm.