Kanand Ojha who was wanted in Guyana for the July 2015 murder of Noel ‘Nephi’ Luther, has been arrested in Queens, New York. Law enforcement authorities, including the New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force, which comprises U.S. Marshals, Homeland Security, and ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), carried out the arrest.
Ojha was placed on a wanted bulletin in July 2019 in connection with Luther’s killing. Luther, a sex worker, was shot at the junction of Carmichael and Quamina Streets during an altercation involving Ojha and his associate, Ron ‘Andel’ Forde. Forde was sentenced to 20 years in prison in June 2017 after pleading guilty to manslaughter.
According to reports, Luther had previously been visited by a male client for a paid sexual encounter. Dissatisfied with the service, the client returned less than an hour later with another man. It is alleged that during this second encounter, Ojha and Forde confronted Luther, resulting in him being shot and killed before the pair fled in a pickup truck.
Luther, a resident of Lot ZZ Durban Street, Wortmanville, was killed on July 22, 2015.
According to the Government of Guyana, Ojha’s arrest follows years of collaboration between the Guyana Police Force, the Ministry of Home Affairs, and Attorney General’s Chambers, and U.S. authorities under the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters framework.
