Police in Brazil are waiting for the family of abducted Guyanese businessman, Mohamed Khan to provide records of his fingerprints to compare them with those from a body found near Boa Vista on Saturday which they are convinced is that of the Lethem hotel owner.

In other developments a fifth police officer was taken into custody in connection with the kidnapping while a sixth could be arrested soon, according to reports out of Brazil. Two members of Guyana’s anti-kidnapping squad travelled to Brazil yesterday to help with investigations.

Officer in Charge for Civilian Police in Brazil, Roberto Caula told Brazilian newspapers that there was still a remote possibility that Khan was alive. The Lethem hotel owner’s family still holds out hope this is so and his wife, Linda along with her daughter and another relative returned to Brazil yesterday to conduct their own investigations. It has been twelve days since Khan, who is the owner of the Savannah Guest House in Lethem, was taken off a 52-seat bus as it was heading for Manaus. Three men who were all dressed in federal police uniforms ordered him into a car and they drove off in the direction of Boa Vista. The abductors had made contact with Khan’s family and demanded $5M for his release. Up to now the police have not been able to locate clothing or any other items belonging to Khan including US$6,000 he was reportedly carrying.

Stabroek News was informed yesterday by a source in Brazil that on Saturday morning civil police had carried out searches in bushes 20 kilometres from Boa Vista and by 5 pm had discovered the body of a naked man.

The body, which bore marks of violence, had been placed in a shallow grave and was found by a dog apparently attracted by the smell. According to the source, whoever had dug the hole, covered it with sand and cement and then replanted trees on top. However, Stabroek News was told that the cement and sand surface was still soft and was easily penetrated by the policemen who took the body to a mortuary.

Civil police had sent for Khan’s relatives to identify the body, but according to Linda the body was not her husband’s. The police have now asked them to produce fingerprints. They were to have taken the fingerprints yesterday but a mix up with flights means the family is to carry the fingerprints today.

Meanwhile, as investigations continue, the four police officers, Domingo Pereira de Aquino, Adail Rodrigues Borges known as `Spider’, Francisco Guimaranes known as `Hawk’ and Paulo Cesar known as `Buckley’ remain in police custody in separate police stations. Reports in the Boa Vista newspapers state that the police are committed to conducting a thorough investigation despite comments that because the men are police they were dragging their feet. Stabroek News was told that at least two of the four accused have pending court matters ranging from robbery under arms to homicide, extortion and inflicting grievous bodily harm.

Although the family did not recognise the body, Caula strongly suspects that the body found on Saturday is that of Khan.

A newspaper in Brazil reported that a pick axe and a spade were found in Borges’ yard and the police are working on leads that the tools might have been used to bury the body that was found.

In a statement in a Brazilian newspaper, Flamarion Portela Governor of the state of Roraima said that the state of Roraima would not hold back on efforts to investigate the kidnapping. He said he would work assiduously to prevent any recurrence, adding that he would do everything to strengthen fraternal relations between Brazil and Guyana.