Quick action by police and public-spirited citizens yesterday resulted in the capture of two armed bandits who grabbed more than $9 million in cash and raw gold from a Port Kaituma water front household after brutalizing a heavily pregnant woman.
A third man is on the run and is suspected to have the stolen booty in his possession. A policeman, Emrit Winter was also shot in the abdomen by the fleeing bandits in the back dam area and he was air dashed to the city. His condition is listed as stable and up to late last evening he was still receiving treatment in the emergency room at the Georgetown Hospital.
According to a police press release, around 1:45pm, three men armed with a hand gun stuck up and robbed the wife of a businessman at Public Road, Port Kaituma, North West District of cash and a quantity of raw gold.
The woman was at home when the suspects confronted and assaulted her in the process and escaped with the booty. An alarm was raised and the police responded. Acting on information, “two of the suspects were cornered in some bushes and they opened fire on the police resulting in Detective Corporal 16723 Winter sustaining a gunshot injury to his left hip.” The two suspects were subsequently arrested and had in their possession a .32 revolver with four live matching rounds and one spent shell, police said.
The woman was taken to the Port Kaituma Hospital for medical attention and is under observation while the police corporal was air dashed to the city.
This
newspaper was told that yesterday’s robbery was well planned as the bandits struck when the woman’s husband, who is a dredge owner, was at another location in the community praying. The mastermind is a relative of the brutalized woman, whose name has been given as Jacqueline James. The three bandits were all masked during the attack.
Still in shock, Farouk Ishmael managed to say that the bandits sat on his seven-month pregnant wife and repeatedly beat her with a gun while, demanding cash and gold. According to the businessman, the men eventually escaped with $8 million in cash and five ounces of raw gold.
Meanwhile, a resident said that the couple’s home is located a short distance from the police station. She recalled that there was a heavy shower and shortly after 1 pm, she saw four armed policemen clad in rain gear running towards the area where people would buy gold. She said that she immediately suspected that there was a robbery and within minutes heard gunshots. She said that she later learnt that bandits had committed a robbery on Ishmael’s wife. According to the woman, Ishmael leaves his home around 1 pm everyday to pray and everyone knew his routine.
Shortly after, police passed with two men who were taken to the police station. James, who was taken there, indicated that the two men were not the robbers as she has scratched one in the eye and scratched another on the hand in her bid to fend them off, the resident told this newspaper.
According to the resident, neither of them had signs of injuries. Their skin “was too clean” she added. No gun or the stolen booty was recovered from them and as such they were released.
Shortly after, a team of police ranks and public spirited citizens headed to the back dam in search of the bandits and according to the resident, shortly after she heard gunshots.
Word quickly circulated that the men had been captured and they were eventually brought out to the water front area.
The resident, this newspaper spoke with said that they were shocked when they recognized one of the captured men whose eye was bleeding profusely, to be a relative of James. Apparently, the relative worked on the couple’s dredge sometime ago but their relationship soured after he stole raw gold from the operation.
According to the resident, nothing was found on the men, who were positively identified as the bandits based on the injuries their bodies bore.
She said that the other bandit is not known to her but according to reports he recently arrived in the area. The woman said that both men were beaten by residents before being taken to the station.
She said that when Ishmael saw that one of the perpetrators was a relative, he dropped to his knee and started to cry. At one point, according to the resident, he said “you use to live by me. You use to eat with me and this is what you gon do to me?”
Stabroek News was told that James is a native of the area while her husband migrated from the city. The two have been living in the Port Kaituma area for about ten years. Ishmael started buying gold about three years ago and this was reportedly the first time he has been robbed.
