A Triumph, East Coast Demerara grocer died last night after he was shot twice last Monday night during an attempted robbery at his shop.
Lokie Narine, of Surat Drive, Triumph, sustained gunshot wounds to his neck and lower abdomen. He had been a patient of the Intensive Care Unit of the Georgetown Hospital.
His wife, Drupatie, told Stabroek News this morning that she received news of his death last evening at 7 pm. She said was shocked as he had spoken to her earlier in the day. He had lapsed into unconsciousness following the shooting.
“My husband worked too hard to deserve to die like that”, Drupatie told this newspaper.
Police had said that around 8:45 pm, Narine was shot and injured during an attempted robbery by four men armed with handguns. Investigations revealed that Narine was in his grocery when the armed men entered the premises, held him up and demanded cash. During the episode, one of the men shot Narine to the right side of his neck.
According to police, an alarm was raised by Narine’s wife and neighbouring residents and the men fled.
At the hospital, Narine’s relatives were waiting to see him. His son, Rajkumar, who was not at home during the robbery, said he received a call about the incident and rushed home. He said he found his father lying on the floor bleeding profusely.
Narine was apparently shot after he refused to hand over valuables to the robbers, who began to fire randomly.
Rajkumar said that Narine was rushed to the hospital, where he underwent surgery but the bullet was not removed. According to his relatives, he sustained lung damage.
This was not the first time the business had been robbed. According to the wife, some 10 years ago armed gunmen robbed the store and gun butted her husband, before escaping with the day’s earnings.
A senior police official told this newspaper that when the men entered, Narine was standing safely behind a “well barricaded” counter. The men arrived in the area on foot, according to reports, and left the same way.
So far, police have not said if they have made any progress in this investigation.
