Hansraj Samaroo, 49, a fruit vendor at the New Amsterdam market for the past 28 years was shot in his left leg and bled profusely from his wounds. He was rushed to the NA Hospital and was said to be in a critical condition on arrival there. Police said he was later transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.
His wife Kumarie ‘Leila’ Samaroo, 49, said his sons, Rishie, 28 and Samuel, 19 were with him at the hospital around noon when he died. Police sources told this newspaper last evening that four persons have since been taken into custody.
Recounting the ordeal, Kumarie said she was in the kitchen downstairs cooking when she turned around and came face to face with one of the bandits. She said he told her not to “holler” and ordered her to lie on the floor.
She nevertheless started to shout for Rishie. She also tried to alert her husband who was watching television upstairs, that the two other bandits were heading his way.
Within a few minutes, she said, she heard gunshots and she ran up to investigate. She saw her husband lying on the floor, bleeding.
The bandits stripped her of her gold jewellery she was wearing at the time, including five bangles and six finger rings.
They also rifled through her husband’s pockets and took out $20,000 and a cellular phone.
Samaroo said she was sitting by her husband’s side, crying when the bandits started to hit her on her head and about her body with the gun butt while demanding more cash. “They tell me that is not all the money and that I must go and bring the bag that had more.”
They then ransacked her wardrobe and found two bags containing $300,000 and $200,000 as well as US$1,500. The woman said she begged the bandits not to kill them.
One of them then said to his accomplices: “Leh we beat out; we get everything” and they escaped on foot.
The man leaves to mourn his wife and two sons as well as his daughters: Ruth, 24 who resides in Trinidad and seven-year-old Aliyah. (Shabna Ullah)
