Tuesday, 29 January 2008 Suriname has put its security forces on alert following last weekend's gruesome murders in neighbouring Guyana.

Both the police and the national army have increased patrols in Nickerie along the border with Guyana.

Police spokesman Humphrey Naarden told reporters that stations had been beefed up and patrols on the Corantyne River as well as the backtrack route on the Nickerie River had been increased.

Guyana police are searching for the killers of 11 people including five children in the East Coast Demerara village of Lusignan on Saturday.

The police have linked the murders to a group of heavily armed men that the authorities say include the country's most wanted criminal Rondel Rawlins also known as 'Fine Man'.

Rawlins is reported to have warned law enforcement authorities that there would be mayhem in the country if his reputed pregnant common law wife was not released by abductors.

The police have offered a reward of 30 million Guyanese dollars or US$150,000 for his capture.

He is wanted for several murders, including the April 2000 assassination of Agriculture Minister Satyadeow 'Sash' Sawh, and several of his relatives.

Suriname authorities have also stepped up their inspection of persons using the "backtrack route" and police say there is no indication that the perpetrators of the attacks have crossed the border.