An East Coast Demerara fish vendor yesterday survived an apparent execution attempt that resulted in a bullet being lodged in his head.
Parmanand Bacchus, 45, was shot to the head when he was confronted by two men at the Strathspey seawall, East Coast Demerara, while collecting his catch from his net. Police later said that a woman was arrested and is assisting with the investigation into the shooting.
Bacchus, popularly known as ‘Fat Man,’ of Lot 44, Block 12, Non Pareil, East Coast Demerara, was rushed to Georgetown Public Hospital with the bullet lodged in the left side of his skull some minutes before 11 am.
According to reports received, the man had explained to his family that he was collecting his fish when two men approached him and asked for some fish. Bacchus told his family he willingly handed over some fish but was then greeted with a gun. “The boys tell he they get pay to do they wuk and they got to do it,” one of the man’s close friends indicated.
The woman said three shots were fired, all of which Bacchus managed to evade, subsequently forcing one of the men to hold him and place the gun to his head before firing the fourth shot. Luckily, Bacchus escaped death as the bullet was left lodged in the left side of his head.
Presuming that Bacchus was dead, the men threw him into the nearby channel as the perpetrators made good their escape. An injured Bacchus then got up and rode his bicycle to Strathspey Sea Dam, which is said to be about four miles away from where the incident occurred, to a friend’s home.
“I hear he calling and he say call the police quick, I get shoot in my head at the koker,” the woman recalled.
She stated that she did not have a phone at hand at the moment and as a result she followed the man to the road, where somebody offered to take him to the Vigilance Police Station.
There, he made a report of what had transpired and was later taken to the hospital by the police. At the hospital, relatives and friends gathered as they awaited further word from the doctor.
The bullet, which was said to be visible, was already removed but Bacchus remained in the Emergency and Accident Unit. He was later admitted to the hospital.
