The MV Meghna Liberty was repatriated urgently to the port of Mauritius after a distress call. The Bangladeshi ship had left Port Elizabeth, South Africa, on November 14, for India. But around 8:50 p.m. Sunday, while the bulk carrier was northwest of St Brandon, Calopez Alfred Kenneth Bonghanoy, the chef, a 33-year-old Filipino, confessed to his messman that he stabbed Rolly Baquillos Solante, 44, the captain. The latter immediately alerted a third officer, who in turn alerted other members of the crew. Together, they searched for the captain and the chef, who was found in a hallway of the ship.
Questioned, the latter would have declared: “already finished”. The team then headed for the cabin of the missing person to break down the door and enter the premises. The captain was found lying in a pool of blood, kneeling, his head on his bed and with several back injuries. The crew tried to revive him but he had already died. The chief officer alerted the company and on the advice of management, they docked in Mauritius, the nearest port. The autopsy, performed on Tuesday by Dr. Sudesh Gungadin, attributed the death of the 40-year-old to multiple injuries.
According to a source, it all started with an argument between the captain and the chef. During an initial interrogation on Monday night, the chef explained that the captain regularly denigrated him in front of the crew members and that he no longer digest his insults. He therefore killed him, stabbing him several times, and the murder was allegedly committed while they were still in South Africa. Scene of Crime office sleuths examined the boat but the murder weapon was not found; the suspect said he threw him into the sea.
The police waited for the green light from the authorities to proceed with the examination of the Bangladeshi bulk carrier. The investigators plan to continue the interrogation in the coming days. Calopez Alfred Kenneth Bonghanoy appeared in court Tuesday on an interim charge of murder. As for the 20 members of the crew, all Filipinos, they submitted to the sanitary protocol of the Ministry of Health to dock. They will also be heard by the investigators. Their passports and the bulk carrier logbook were seized. The investigation is being carried out by the port police under the supervision of Superintendent Vurdah and Chief Inspector Taujoo and the men of the Criminal Investigation Division of the port.
