By Shabna Ullah
A policeman suffered gunshot injuries to his face while responding to a robbery at Hampshire, Corentyne around 7.30 pm on Wednesday and is currently a patient at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH).
Constable 20387 Sadram Singh, 20, a member of the Tactical Services Unit (TSU) based at the Albion Police Station and four other policemen responded to the call. As he was about to exit the vehicle at the scene, Singh told this newspaper, he was hit by a shotgun blast which saw four pellets enter the left side of his face and lodge in his upper and lower jaw, forehead and temple.
He was rushed to the New Amsterdam Hospital where he was treated and subsequently transferred to the GPH. His condition is listed as stable.
Singh and the other members of the TSU were on an anti-crime patrol when they received a call about a robbery at the Hampshire Village home of Ramsammy Moonsammy.
According to reports, five masked bandits were making their way out of Moonsammy’s premises when the police patrol arrived.
The bandits immediately opened fire, hitting Singh, and as the policemen took cover, they turned back and escaped through the backyard.
According to reports, two officers took Singh to the hospital, while the others remained and conducted investigations.
A press release from the police said “two male suspects have been arrested and a motor car suspected to have been used by the armed men was detained by the police.” Their accomplices are also being sought. Four empty cartridges were recovered at the scene by the police.
This newspaper learnt that the masked gunmen stormed Moonsammy’s home and carted off over $4 million including $600,000; US$8,000, a quantity of gold jewellery, a digital camera and three cellular phones.
Moonsammy, 53, a US-based Guyanese from New Jersey had come home along with his wife, Nadira, daughters, Nadina and Laleena and son-in-law Lincoln Maharaj to perform a religious function.
Moonsammy told this newspaper yesterday that he and his family were sitting under the house just before 8 pm when the bandits barged into the yard. They ordered him to get down on the ground and gun-butted him in his face.
They also ordered him to remove the gold jewellery he was wearing at the time, worth some $1 million. One of the bandits guarded him while the others took his wife and one of his daughters upstairs and demanded that they hand over money and more jewellery.
They gun-butted his wife and kicked her. The woman who was in severe pain when this newspaper visited the home yesterday had to seek medical attention. She was too traumatized to speak.
Moonsammy said the gunmen threatened to assault his daughter forcing her to retrieve US$8,000 from a bag. They then kicked open the three bedroom doors which the family had locked earlier and ransacked the rooms, upturning mattresses in the process.
Moonsammy said his family had ordered a quantity of jewellery and the jeweller had delivered the items on Wednesday, the day of the robbery.
Meanwhile, Constable Singh, originally from 72 Maria’s Lodge, Essequibo told this newspaper that after he was hit in the face, he dropped to the ground and sought cover in the drain, while more shots were fired at his colleagues who were also forced to take cover. He said after the bandits escaped, he was rushed to the hospital.
Singh said yesterday that he was waiting to be examined by another doctor after which the next course of action would be decided. Singh said the pellet that was of the most concern to him was the one in his upper jaw since it was almost on the bone.
The left side of his face was swollen and Singh said that he was in a lot of pain.
Singh has been in the police force for nearly two years.
(Additional reporting by Tiffny Rhodius)