Remember Chetanand “Ashley” Sewraz? The young fellow from Mauritius, now living in Chesterfield County, Virginia, whose dispute with his wife had escalated to bombs?
Well, thanks to The Richmond Times-Dispatch we now know that his middle name is “Kumar”.
And we also know that he was manufacturing ricin in his home in the suburbs of Richmond.
Ricin was found Jan. 20 in the home of Chetanand Kumar Sewraz in the 14000 block of Fortune Ridge Court in the Brandermill subdivision, police said yesterday.
Ricin, which has potential to be used as an agent of biological warfare, is widely available, easily produced and derived from the beans of the castor plant. Chesterfield police spokeswoman Ann P. Reid said the ricin found in the Brandermill home was in a semi-solid mash form and poses no threat to the public.
Police said a dispute between Sewraz and his estranged wife, Mariea Gamble, became public Dec. 13, when he swore out warrants charging her with making a threatening phone call to him and threatening to burn or destroy his house or vehicle. Gamble, 22, surrendered five days later and was released that day.
On Jan. 9, Chesterfield police charged Sewraz, 24, with abduction and domestic assault. He was jailed without bond.
The strangest part of the story is the following sentence:
Chesterfield County police say the discovery of the toxin ricin in a home is related to a domestic dispute.
A domestic dispute? That must have been a hell of a marriage! Never mind throwing the crockery; bombs and ricin were the weapons of choice. Do you think they’ll find a suitcase nuke from Tajikistan in the basement?
In my initial report last month, I said that there was no indication that this story was jihad-related, and the consensus of the commenters was that this was a marital battle, albeit a strange one.
But ricin?
And now I wonder about “Kumar” — I had thought that it was a Pakistani name, and not a Hindu one. Can any of our South Asian readers enlighten me on this?
The story concludes with:
The investigation is continuing.
Well, I hope so. I wish I could say the same for mine. But, except for the meager supply of RT-D stories, almost all the Google trails lead here to Gates of Vienna.
If anybody has any more tips, by all means send them in.
Hat tip: alert Reader J.S.
Kumar would be a Hindu name
Harold and Kumar go to White Castle!!!
It’s not like all names are either ONLY Hindu or ONLY Muslim, but I would think Kumar would typically be a Hindu name. It’s certaintly not a Muslim name you would find anywhere outside of South Asia.
I hadn’t ever heard of Hindus interested in Ricin before.
There are muslims with names like Kumar. It’s common enough for Indians to keep using traditionally Hindu names even when they’ve converted to Islam.
Name origins could be a good start, but this is clearly a mission for the CTU…turn it over to Jack Bauer.
I belong to Hindu faith. I’m a long time reader. I went to school in a place in South India where Hindu Muslim clashes used to be a common occurance. Kumar is 100% Hindu name.
For those interested, Google for “Coimbatore Bomb Blasts” for some background info.
immigrant, ik —
Thanks for the info. This whole business is still a perplexing mystery to me.
I am actually a Hindu from Mauritius, this is definitely a Hindu name. However, I am not sure why we are even having this discussion . Since when did ricin, Hindu or Muslim become synonymous to terrorism. The man wanted to kill his wife, too bad he chose a means that could label him as a terrorist. I just hope this does not have any repercussions on other Mauritians living the US or anywhere else – Hindu or Muslim.
Fa’Jing —
The point is that a Hindu is far less likely to use ricin and bombs for terrorism than a Muslim. That’s the only reason it’s significant.
Annk, here the girl that peaked your intrest to Sewraz! Ashley is a name from Gone With the Wind, given from his grandmother, suprisingly he is the typical extrem intellictual with no life skills as our lovely Chetanand has turned out to be. I belive him to be Hindu, and emotionaly unstable, I found out recently that he could have been involved in a drug ring by his ex-wife and this caused the unexpected crazy behavior. The ricin could have been a study for cancer or a passive aggresive attempt on someone’s life possibly mine the ATF, FBI and local police are no longer including me on there investigation or prosecution, so if you have any information or need anymore… please contact me at cutco4u@hotmail.com if your super intrested let me know I may publish a book on this ridiculous experience in my life Annk