Following a spate of robberies over the past few months, Parika residents are calling on the authorities to beef-up security in the area, saying the few ranks that are stationed at the Parika Police Station are inadequate to cope with activities at the busy port of entry.
A number of businesspersons suffered losses at the hands of bandits over the past few months, with the last incident occurring as recent as Saturday evening when businessman Anil Bhagoo, 30, was shot during a robbery outside the new Parika Market Complex.
According to reports, around 6:30 that evening Bhagoo had just closed up business for the day and was purchasing greens at a nearby stall when he was confronted by a gunman.
The man’s relatives told Stabroek News that he had an undisclosed sum of money on his person, which the bandit grabbed. They said Bhagoo was about to enter his van when he was shot in the chest. He is being treated at the Woodlands Hospital and his relatives said he is in a stable condition as doctors at the medical institution were trying to remove the bullet from his lower back.
Persons close to the scene said the bandit and his accomplices may have been trailing the businessman since the bandit ran over the road after committing the robbery and entered a white Toyota car with two other men inside and headed in the direction of Georgetown.
Another businessman, Lowknauth Kawall, of 636 Main Road Parika, was robbed along the Zeeburg Public Road last Monday. Kawall stopped to make a purchase and was robbed of $300,000. While the robbery occurred some distance away from the man’s home, his relatives related that it was the third time the man was robbed. The man and his family were robbed of an undisclosed sum of money and jewellery in 2006, when bandits attacked his business place. His relatives said they had suffered at the hands of bandits in the early 90s but the 2006 robbery “flattened” their business operations. They said Kawall and two employees were returning to Parika last Monday evening while selling cooking gas along the West Coast Demerara when he was robbed. During the ordeal Kawall was struck on the nose by one of three bandits whose gun broke in half. The man sought refuge in a yard as the bandits took away the money from his employees and escaped in a waiting car.
Further down the road from Kawall’s residence lives Beverly Klass and her husband Cyril Bremner, who were robbed at their Lot 1020 Parika Outfall home on Sunday May 24, by two bandits who were posing as customers. At the time, Bremner was weighing two pounds of chicken which the men had earlier ordered. When this newspaper spoke to Klass yesterday, she said the family had been selling chicken for over 20 years and were never robbed.
Recalling the day of the 10-minute ordeal, Klass said the gate to their house is usually left open so that customers could enter their yard to make purchases. She said around 4 pm that day the two young men entered her yard to make the purchase and as her husband turned his back, one of the men attacked him .She said she struggled with the other bandit who relieved her of her cellular phone and a bag. He had tried to shoot her after the bag became entangled with the “small firearm” he had in his hand. Her husband sustained a chop to his right hand and the men ran out of their yard with over $3 million in cash and jewellery. Klass said calls were made to the Parika and Leonora Police Stations and approximately 20 minutes after the ordeal the police arrived at the scene. She said neighbours saw a white car with three men in it speeding out of the village even as the police arrived at the scene. Klass said the men may have been following her husband who had just returned home from making a business transaction and she related that persons at the scene saw the white car parked near to a koker located close to her home but thought nothing of it.
It was at that very koker that residents recalled seeing a similar white car parked as Urmilla Talchand and her family were being robbed of a small amount of cash. During the robbery, Talchand leaped from her veranda to escape from three bandits who invaded her Parika Outfall home. It occurred around 7:30 pm on April 27.
The woman was watching a TV newscast and one of three men entered her home through an open door at the side of the home. Her husband, who was in the yard at the time, heard the commotion in the upper flat of the house and on investigating was confronted by one of the men who hit him about the body with a gun. His wife, in her escape bid, scaled the veranda and ran to a sister’s house nearby. After being bedridden since the incident, the woman has started to move around on the injured left leg and will undergo therapy within the next few weeks for injuries sustained. The woman told this newspaper yesterday that persons in the area are scared since the robberies seem to be well planned .To date no one has been arrested in any of the robberies as police carry out investigations.
Other residents in the area, especially businesspersons, are calling for more police protection as they noted that Parika will be transformed into a town in the near future. One victim of the spate of robberies said the ranks at the Parika outpost are always limited in number when contacted during a robbery while the public is usually told that no vehicle is available to respond to a crime .She questioned why she pays thousands of dollars in taxes each year noting that it is difficult for her and family members to sleep at night. Other residents told Stabroek News yesterday that more ranks are needed to man the police station since on a daily basis since persons from Bartica, the Essequibo Coast, Leguan, Wakenaam and other areas utilise the Parika stelling and other facilities in the area to conduct their everyday business activities.
