A city businessman was shot in the chest during a robbery at his Sherriff Street business last evening.
Davendra Bholanauth, the proprietor of E Zee Runnings Taxi Service, was shot while reportedly resisting the attack on his business. He sustained a single gunshot wound and according to reports, the bullet was lodged close to his hip when doctors at the Georgetown Public Hospital rushed the businessman to emergency surgery.
The robbery, believed to have been planned, occurred around 8.30 pm. Based on eyewitness accounts, the two “very young” attackers were apparently watching Bholanauth prior to storming the business. “They stood over the road for a while,” an eyewitness said, reporting that the men seemed to be waiting to make a move.
Bholanauth, 33, of Owen Street, Kitty was seated at the taxi base alongside the dispatcher when the men entered. They were acting suspiciously. The dispatcher reportedly inquired whether they were interested credit for their mobiles, while Bholanauth was occupied on his laptop computer. The men ignored the dispatcher, pushed him aside and approached Bholanauth.
It is reported that Bholanauth resisted the men when they attempted to take his laptop and his jewellery. It was at this point he was shot. “I don’t believe he knew they had a gun,” a relative said at the hospital, emphasising that the businessman might have reacted differently had he known.
Stabroek News spoke with taxi driver Eon Dias, who was at the base when the incident happened. He was in his car and heard when the gunshot rang out. Dias said he looked up and noticed two men fleeing the premises and disappearing into a sea of traffic on Sheriff Street. He then looked to the base and saw Bholanauth approaching his car. “Drive me to the hospital, drive me to the hospital,” he quoted the businessman as saying. And he did just that.
He said his boss appeared to have been seriously hurt and on the way to the hospital he mentioned that the young men had grabbed at his neck. He said it was only after relatives turned up at the hospital he found out that a huge gold chain and gold band were taken from his boss in addition to the computer. “How they snatch off that chain from his neck? Is how they managed to get that big chain?” a relative asked Dias last night. The man was unable to respond, saying he had not seen what actually happened. Another relative suggested that the men might have yanked at the chain really hard. Four out of some 14 taxi drivers were reportedly at base at the time of the robbery.
Outraged relatives and friends gathered at the hospital decried the incident, saying people are no longer safe at home or at work. They said crime has been spiralling out of control with little reduction, and how young the criminals are. “Is young boys do this, very young boys,” a relative said.
Police turned up at the hospital shortly after the robbery and maintained a presence there for a while.