The farmer who was shot last week at Crabwood Creek is paralyzed from the waist down – something he hopes is temporary – and the family of the alleged assailant is denying that he had anything to do with the attack.
Bijai Ramdass, 31, of Lot 41, Grant 1806, Crabwood Creek, Corentyne, was shot with pellets by persons who he said had attacked him for the third time after a business deal went sour.
The man told Stabroek News yesterday that he was told by doctors that seven pellets are lodged in his spine while eight are left in his head. These pellets are said to have been lodged so deeply that it would be very difficult and complicated to remove them. Also, the man has lost vision in the right eye.
Recounting his experience from his bed at the Georgetown Public Hospital, Ramdass yesterday said he went to the farmland to harvest his plantains when his employee suffered a minor injury forcing them to leave.
On their way out, two men were sitting at the corner of the trench and one threw out a tube which hooked on to Ramdass’s boat
He explained that earlier his brother had ridden ahead on a motorcycle and was stopped by the men who inquired of his whereabouts. Unaware of their motive, his brother indicated to them that he was coming soon by boat and continued on his way.
Ramdass said he was instantly showered with pellets and added that his employee too was injured during the ordeal but escaped on foot. He noted that as one of his attackers drew closer to force him out of the boat, he managed to reach for his cutlass to protect himself. He told this newspaper that if he had not done that, he is certain that the men would have killed him.
“The boat start duck with meh and meh help mehself lil bit and go corner and hide under a tree and I hear them saying the boat duck and he dead now,” he recalled.
He further stated that after the men left, he was assisted by two passers-by on a tractor who took him to the Springlands Hospital. From there, he said, he was transferred to the New Amsterdam Hospital and then to the GPHC on Friday last.
The man is expected to be advised by doctors on their next course of action and is hopeful that his injuries are temporary.
Ramdass said he does not know how he will be able to provide for his wife and two young children if he is told that he is permanently paralyzed in his legs.
Meanwhile, relatives of Imtiaz Shaw who is accused of carrying out the shooting at Crabwood Creek have denied that he was responsible for the act. Instead, they said it was a relative of Ramdass who fired about three shots with the intent of hitting Shaw and another man, called ‘Bob’ but it hit Ramdass and his teen helper, Hazrat ‘Boi’ Ibrahim.
The relatives told Stabroek News that Shaw has not come forward because he does not have confidence in certain police officers but would do so with a lawyer very soon.
Ramdass’ mother, Radhkia Ramdass, 52, had told Stabroek News that her son had entered a partnership in a plantain farm with Shaw but they had a disagreement.
She said the man had tried to stop her son from reaping the plantains but he contacted his lawyer and the police and they advised him to go ahead and reap.
But Shaw’s relatives said he was the one who invested all of the money to develop the land and planted the farm during last year.
