A band of six bandits looted a Linden storage bond of $2.3M worth of items last weekend after tying up the security guard.
The Lot 4070 Central Amelia’s Ward, Mackenzie storage bond belonging to Basil Jaipaul, proprietor of Riverview Shopping Centre at Wismar, was robbed of a quantity of items, including three Lincoln welding sets, one drill press, 510 12×10 ceramic tiles, one 14-inch bench plainer, one large steam vacuum cleaner, a quantity of mechanical tools, and a quantity of electrical carpentry tools.
Jaipaul said that on Sunday morning some time after 2 am he was awakened by his security guard who told him that the bond had been robbed.
According to Jaipaul the guard said that the incident occurred between 9 pm on Saturday and 2 am Sunday.
According to the businessman, the security guard was in the guard hut when he was approached by six men. Five wore masks while the sixth was unmasked and armed with a cutlass.
He related that the men bound the guard’s hands and feet with pieces of material used to make slings for cement sacks and took him to a dark, bushy area in the compound before breaking and entering the bond and carting off the items.
He said the men took away the guard’s cell phone, took out the chip and returned the phone to him. “He said that he made an effort to run away and they beat him. They carried him in a dark spot then do what they had to do,” Jaipaul said.
Stabroek News understands that the men took off all the security lights in the compound, broke off eight heavy-duty padlocks before gaining entry to the building and two stocked crates.
Jaipaul said that following the report by his security guard he summoned the police before proceeding to the location.
“When I got there I noticed one generator, two fishing rods and a gas lamp outside the compound. Like they didn’t have enough space to carry those things so they left them behind. My guard said that he didn’t see them come in no vehicle but while he was tied up and secluded he heard a vehicle pull up and after a while it drove away. He waited a while to make sure that they were all gone and then he managed to free himself and come out and catch a taxi to come to my home which is about a half mile from the bond,” Jaipaul related.
Further investigations revealed that locks on three doors were broken and those on three containers which were in the building were also broken.
Police who were investigating the matter have since held the security guard to assist with further investigations.
According to Jaipaul it was the fifth time his storage bond had been robbed but this is the largest loss recorded. He said that during the previous robbery the bandits had locked the security guard in the hut before making off with stocks worth over $1 milion.
