Anna Catherina resident Balram Teekaram, who was attacked by bandits on Wednesday morning, suffered a gunshot wound in the eye and a broken jaw and doctors have told his family that his condition is deteriorating.
The 43-year-old man and his son, Yogindra Teekaram, were asleep when three bandits, two armed with guns, broke and entered their home, which is located near the Anna Catherina, West Coast Demerara seawall on Wednesday morning.
The older son of the injured man, Ravin Teekaram, told Stabroek News yesterday that his father’s condition had gotten worse. “Right now I can’t give you all the details but we have gotten back results and we are shocked to discover that his jaw was severely broken and the doctor said that he was shot around the eye area and the bullet exited,” Ravin explained.
The man said that he visited his father around 12.30pm at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Georgetown Hospital. Balram, according to the man, was still not speaking and was semi-aware of what was going on around him.
However, some time around 3pm, Ravin said, ICU staff contacted them and asked that a relative visit the hospital. “They told us that my father’s condition had worsened and that a relative should go down there…he is still alive but I am not sure yet what the doctors told my aunt,” Ravin said. “Right now we are all under a lot of stress.”
The man further explained that after learning of the incident, his overseas-based mother immediately arranged for a trip here. Ravin said his mother arrived yesterday afternoon and is still in shock at the state Balram is in. “We were really hoping that daddy would get better,” he said.
Balram was lashed across the face with an object by one of two attackers who entered his room. Yogindra had told Stabroek News that one of the attackers who entered his father’s room was armed with a gun and they later told him that they had shot Balram. However, relatives were unsure what sort of injuries Balram suffered during the attack but reported that there were two wounds to his head.
Following the incident on Wednesday morning, one of the attackers had been arrested. When contacted yesterday afternoon Commander of Police ‘D’ Division Balram Persaud told Stabroek News that police were yet to apprehend the other two suspects.
The incident occurred around 1am that day and police, in a press statement, had said that three attackers escaped with a silver chain, cellular phone and an iPod. Yogindra had reported that other items, including a quantity of cash, were also stolen but the Teekarams are yet to estimate the value of their losses.
