HEAD of the Homicide Bureau Assistant Commissioner of Police Heflin George yesterday appealed to citizens to step forward if they have information on murdered cousins Dale and Jerome Ramsahai.

George said investigators had to start from zero since much of the evidence was destroyed when the killers set fire to the car containing the bodies of the men.

George, in a telephone interview with the Express, said:

"We have certain leads that we are following up on. We are hoping to being some resolution to this matter as is practicable and possible.

"It would be a relief to a number of persons, of course the family members and the rest of society. From our perspective, it is important that we solve those kinds of cases also."

Jerome Ramsahai's burnt Nissan Tiida motorcar was found on February 28 at the Heights of Guanapo in Arima—in the trunk, two burnt bodies wrapped in barbed wire.

In order to make a positive identification, police took samples from the parents of Jerome Ramsahai, 27, a loans officer at Scotiabank's headquarters in Port of Spain, and Dale Ramsahai, 28, an information technology coordinator with the Trinidad and Tobago Coalition of Services Industries.

The samples were sent abroad for deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) testing.

Forensic pathologist Dr Valery Alexandrov, who saw the corpses at the Forensic Science Centre in St James, yesterday said the burning of the bodies could have destroyed aspects of the DNA.

Alexandrov said the usual type of testing of nuclear DNA would not suffice, and it was possible a deeper process of mitochondrial DNA testing would have to be applied.

George said he knew tissue samples from the burnt bodies and the parents of Dale and Jerome Ramsahai were sent abroad, but he did not know where.

"Officially, the bodies have to be identified. But sometimes we have a strong suspicion. We rely on the fact that the person is missing, the vehicle belonged to a particular individual, and a number of other factors," said George.

George did not disclose the leads being pursued in the case. Asked if the killings could have been linked to a threat to Liana Ramsahai, the sister of Jerome Ramsahai, George declined comment.

Jerome Ramsahai's sister, attorney Liana Ramsahai, is the deputy chairman of CNMG.

In July 2010, Liana Ramsahai reported to police a death threat that mentioned Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and made a reference to the 1990 coup attempt by the Jamaat-al-Muslimeen.

The threat came less than a year after a High Court ruling which ordered the Jamaat to pay the State more than $42 million.

"It is the kind of investigation that we have to be very careful about," George said.

"When we are doing the investigations and we get information, we try our best to be as thorough as possible because we do not want to make mistakes with this type of investigation," George added.

George said there were no witnesses in the case and no suspects have been detained.

He said persons with information can contact the Homicide Bureau at 625-2877.