One person has been arrested in connection with last Saturday’s Goed Fortuin robbery, and investigators are also ruling out any possible link to a similar attack at Uitvlugt on Monday night.
Crime Chief Seelall Persaud also told this newspaper that the police are in possession of information which suggests who may be behind the attack.
Peter Sahadeo, a shop owner, was robbed of around $1 million, six cellular phones, a camera and a quantity of jewellery at his Lot 24 Lancaster Avenue, Goed Fortuin, West Bank Demerara home on Saturday evening.
The man had recently told Stabroek News that on the night of the incident, he along with his wife and son were downstairs catering to customers when nine armed robbers showed up, seven of whom invaded his shop. The family and customers were beaten and robbed during the 15-minute ordeal.
However, Persaud said it was only four perpetrators who were involved in the incident.
Nanda Sahadeo, who was beaten during the robbery, yesterday told Stabroek News that it was four persons who had jumped the counter but explained that three were in the shop directing customers to lie on the ground, two were outside patrolling while one was in the bus awaiting the others. This, she said, was reported to her by a neighbour.
She further noted that she was unable to get a good glimpse of the men, since they were beating her; they hit her to the head, resulting in her looking down for the majority of the ordeal. “They were just lashing me so I had my head down and I was crying too so with the water in my eyes I couldn’t see anything,” the woman stated.
Meanwhile, Persaud also said no arrests have been made so far in the Uitvlugt robbery, in which Ritchie Ranglall’s family was attacked.
In the attack, four armed men robbed the proprietors of Ritchie and Daughters General Store of an estimated $980,000 in cash and jewellery and 60 cellular phones. The victims related that the entire episode lasted for about five minutes, after which the men escaped via speedboat in the nearby seawall. The police were alerted, pursued the perpetrators but their search came up empty. Investigations are still continuing into the matter.
