A Leonora rice vendor was shot in the leg yesterday while resisting robbers during an attack at Bushy Park, Mahaicony, on the East Coast of Demerara.
Bissoondial Seepersaud, 43, of Lot 19 Fourth Street, Leonora, West Coast Demerara was travelling to Corentyne, Berbice to buy rice when the attempted robbery occurred.
Seepersaud, who was travelling in his truck with three others including his son, Ramprakash Seepersaud, told Stabroek News that he had stopped about 30 rods away from the Perseverance double road to have a drink of water, when he was accosted by a man armed with a handgun. The man, he said, approached the vehicle from under a shade of trees, clambered up to his side of the vehicle (the driver’s side), held the gun to his face and demanded cash.
At this time, the gunman was joined by two other men, including one who was armed with a cutlass, who pulled up in a car near the truck.
Acting quickly, Seepersaud said that he opened the truck door and “push he down” to the ground. However, this did not deter the gunman, who quickly got up and began struggling with Seepersaud, who by that time was already out of the truck. During the scuffle, Seepersaud was shot in his right leg.
The vendor related that after the gunman shot him, he approached the truck and climbed onto to the opposite door, “but they hit he up with wan iron rod.”
By that time, the occupants of several passing vehicles stopped to render assistance to the victims, and this resulted in the three attackers fleeing the scene in their car.
Seepersaud was taken to the Mahaicony Cottage Hospital, where he was treated and later discharged.