Up to press time last evening Sewanandan Gopaul 38 of Lot 175 who was shot in the right thigh and Bhojindra Gopaul 38 of Lot 214 who sustained a gunshot wound to the left thigh were still receiving treatment at the Georgetown Hospital.
Hospital sources said that the injuries did not appear life-threatening and that the men’s conditions were listed as stable.
Their father, Madhoo, who sustained injuries to his head and chest when one of the gunmen repeatedly hit him with his weapon was treated at the Diamond Diagnostic Centre where they were all rushed following the incident. He was later sent away after being treated.
When Stabroek News arrived at the Lot 175 address where the incident occurred relatives and friends were comforting Madhoo and his wife Surijadai. The woman was in tears when approached by this newspaper but managed to say that around 6.30 pm, her sons were closing up a small shop at her home when she noticed a group of men coming through her gate. She was seated on a bench in front of the shop while her husband was on a nearby staircase. Sewanandan had just taken a glass case with some eatables into the bottom flat of the two-storey house while Bhojindra was securing the bolts inside the shop.
The woman said that she thought it was customers but when she approached the group which numbered about five, one of the men pulled out a gun and ordered that she “get in the ——ing yard.”
Surijadai said that she started to wrestle with the gunman and it was at this point that she spotted two more weapons.
She recalled that she somehow managed free herself and run though the open gate “and up the road screaming.” She told Stabroek News that as she ran she heard at least three gunshots.
Mahdoo said that after his wife ran away one of the gunmen came up to him and started hitting him in his head and chest. The man then ordered him to enter the house. However he disregarded the gunman’s command and instead jumped over the fence to a neighbour’s yard where he telephoned the police.
It is unclear what happened after that but from all appearances the bandits entered the house and confronted the two brothers who reportedly put up resistance and were shot in the process. The bandits later escaped on foot.
Pieces of broken glass littered the floor and there was a broken drinks bottle near a white hat that one of the bandits left behind. Ranks who visited the scene did not collect the hat.
The bandits at some point removed a drawer with the day’s sales which was in the shop. After emptying it they threw it in a flower bed near the gate. This newspaper was told that the policeman, “hold it with he two hand and rest it pon top de table.”
It was in the same position the rank had left it when this newspaper arrived.
There was also evidence that the bandits were in a room where drinks were stored as several bottles were lying on the floor. It is thought that Sewanandan may have fled there and was confronted by one of the bandits.
The glass case with the eatables was where Sewanandan had left it. Drops of blood were visible on the floor.
At the hospital, the men’s brother-in-law Pramdatt Gopaul said that they were conscious and were talking.
Two policemen later visited the hospital to check on the two injured men.
The couple and the residents yesterday expressed fear for their safety in light of the incident. Surijadai said that within the last month several strange persons had been coming into her shop but she didn’t think too much of it.
She said that the community was in dire need of more streets lights as some sections were dark at night. She also expressed the need for a police presence in the community at night and the removal of groups of idle youths from street corners.
There have been several petty robberies in recent times in this part of Grove.
