Police were up press time last night on the hunt for four gunmen who invaded a house at Victoria Avenue, Eccles, East Bank Demerara and escaped with millions in local and foreign currency.
According to a police press release, an investigation has been launched into the armed robbery which occurred around 1330 hours. Investigations revealed that two maids, Emelda Williams and Vernie Venezuela, were in the house, which is owned by a miner when they opened the door upon hearing someone knocking. They were then confronted by four men all armed with firearms. The men held the maids at gunpoint and proceeded to ransack the house.
The men are reported to have taken away a nag containing $9000 US (equivalent to $1.8M) and $7.2 million cash from a wardrobe after which they escaped.
When Stabroek News arrived at the house, a man who was standing in the yard declined to comment. “We aint want to talk to nobody,” he said before walking away.
A senior police source said that Leslyn Fernandes, whose husband operated a business in the North West District area, had hidden the cash before leaving home. From all appearances, it was shortly after the woman left that the gunmen descended on the home, demanding money and jewellery from the two terrified maids.
According to the police source, two of the men held the women on the floor at gun point while the other two proceeded to the upper flat.
Meanwhile an Eccles resident, who asked not to be identified, told Stabroek News that he had lived on Victoria Avenue for more than a decade and no one had ever been attacked in such a manner.
The mining family, according to him, moved into the area about three years ago. However, he only learnt that they did mining when news of the robbery spread. “People in this area are very closed up,” the resident stated, “and nobody really pays attention to anyone else so all like how that robbery happen, there are not many people would hear about it.”
He further said that a woman, who was home cleaning at the time, told him that it was not until the gunmen had left the Fernandes’ house that she realized the maids had been attacked and robbed.
The woman, according to him, later related to him that the two maids started to cry after the attackers had left.
When Stabroek News visited the Eccles area around 3pm yesterday a woman said that she saw a police van enter the area more than an hour earlier. The police, according to her, spent over quarter of an hour in the area before she saw them speeding out the access road with other persons in their van.
This newspaper understands that the victims were taken to the Providence Police Station, where they were questioned and gave statements.
