TWO more men were gunned down in separate incidents in Diego Martin and Santa Cruz between Monday night and early yesterday.

The killings have pushed the murder figure for the year to 24 in 17 days.

Out of the 24 victims, 20 of them were killed with the use of firearms while one was stabbed, another chopped and the fourth drowned.

For the same period last year, the murder toll was 22, according to an Express tally.

Of the latest two murders, one of the victims was shot dead while taking his usual early-morning jog in Santa Cruz while the other was killed when gunmen stormed his Diego Martin home.

Dead are Lincoln Baker, 36, of Andrew Trace, Blue Basin Road, Diego Martin and Lalchan Bhairosingh, 50, of Sun Valley Street, La Pastora Road, Santa Cruz.

The first incident occurred at Baker's home shortly after 11.p.m. on Monday. His niece Lianna James, 18, was also injured in the incident when unknown assailants stormed their home.

James remains in satisfactory condition at the Port of Spain General Hospital nursing a gunshot injury to the left breast.

Her two-year-old baby and her boyfriend who were with her at the time were not hurt, police said.

All the commotion occurred while the house was in darkness after the assailants forced their way inside.

James, relatives said, was shot after a bullet pierced a wooden partition which separated her room from that of her uncle.

Baker, his relatives believe, was killed in a case of mistaken identity. They believe the bullets were intended for James' boyfriend.

Police are also working on the same theory.

Baker, a plumber and father of two children, was shot multiple times about the body by unknown assailants while inside his bedroom.

His relatives, who spoke with the media at the Forensic Science Centre in St James yesterday, said Baker was shot while asleep, but police said he was chased from his living room into his bedroom where he was ordered to come out before being shot.

This is the third murder to occur within the Western division in three consecutive days.

Early on Saturday, Robert Neptune, 38, of Sarganga Trace, Diego Martin, was shot dead near his home while Devon Ballentyne, 32, of the corner of Savannah Terrace 2 and Mahogany Terrace, Diego Martin, was shot dead in the area on Sunday.

Head of the Western Division, Snr Supt Glenda Jennings-Smith, ASP Garth Nelson, Insp Eric Parks, Sgts Ulrick Prescott, Sheldene Bacchus and Cpl Vincent of the Western Division and the Region I Homicide Bureau of Investigations visited the scene.

In the second killing yesterday, Bhairosingh, a father of four, was shot in the head while taking his usual early-morning jog at the corner of Foster Block Road and La Pastora Road, Santa Cruz.

His bullet-riddled body was discovered on the roadway by a motorist who notified the police.

Outside the Forensic Science Centre yesterday, one of his daughters described him as a very loving person who assisted anyone in need.

She said even though relatives remained baffled over the incident, they believe it may have been connected to thousands of dollars he was owed by several persons.

Bhairosingh owned several apartments in the Santa Cruz area.

His daughter said he left his home around 4.15 a.m. to jog when he was ambushed along his route and shot in the head.

The woman added she believed the killers knew her father's route and lay in wait to execute him.

Bhairosingh was a former maxi taxi owner and operator as well as a doubles vendor.

"He had no grievances with anybody and everybody in Santa Cruz like him because he would make lots of jokes and old talk and that's what people like him for.

"He's a well-known person in the area so it's shocking that he got shot even right where some of his family lives," his daughter added.

When the Express visited the area yesterday, residents who were washing away Bhairosingh's blood, said shortly after 5 a.m. they heard three gunshots in the area but did not take it seriously.

They have expressed concern regarding what they have described as the possible ignition of crime within their community.

"He like to give joke and give talk but you go kill him for that? He like woman too and he have three wives but the man was a nice person. Every morning he does exercise and thing," one resident said.

Another added, "We don't really have these kinda thing here yuh know. But like it now start. It had a rape the other day, now it have this."

"The man feed the poor and look what go on with him. He help out people by selling doubles. This looks like the start of something here and we need to be extremely careful nowadays," the man added.