Two armed bandits yesterday morning carted off gold and diamond jewellery along with cash and cellphones valued in excess of $8M from a goldsmith at Uitvlugt, West Coast Demerara.
According to a police press release, Radha Krishna Chandra, 59, a goldsmith of Lot 160 Ocean View, Uitvlugt and his family were attacked and robbed by the men one of whom was armed with a hand gun.
The release stated that the bandits escaped in a waiting car which was later found abandoned at New Road, Vreed-en-Hoop. Up to press time the vehicle was in police custody.
When Stabroek News visited the goldsmith and the rest of his household, they were still counting their losses from the home invasion.
Reports are that Preetam Deroop, who is also a goldsmith, went into the yard to the washroom leaving the door to the home open and upon returning to the house he was confronted by the bandits.
Tulsidai, 56, recounted that two unmasked men who were armed with a knife and a gun entered via the back door of the three-bedroom house around 6:30 am. The distraught woman said that the perpetrators who were hiding behind the backdoor held her 25-year old nephew at gunpoint while they demanded the valuables. The woman said that Deroop refused to comply with the perpetrators’ demands so they tied him up and subsequently went to the upper flat of her home where they terrorised the eight occupants including the woman’s ten-year-old granddaughter. The relatives related that the armed men disconnected the telephone wires in the house which they then used to tie them up. Socks were also forced into their mouths, one of the relatives said.
Tulsidai related that the attackers rushed into her bedroom pointing the gun to her husband who was sitting on the bed. She said that a scuffle ensued between her husband and the bandits and as a result the man suffered minor injuries about his body. “Meh husband fight back with them but de man who had de gun pointed it to he so he back off”.
The distraught woman said that the bandits demanded that she show them where her valuables were concealed and when she was finished handing over the jewellery and the other items they tied her up.
A relative who had been asleep during the entire ordeal later untied them.
This newspaper was told that among the valuables which the bandits carted off were eight cellphones and a lap top computer estimated to be worth $1.5M
Stabroek News was told that it was not the first time that the family was attacked and robbed by bandits. About seven years ago, the owners related that they were robbed by gunmen who snatched an estimated $4M in jewellery from their ‘RK Chandra and Son’ Leonora Market stall.
On that occasion, Radha Krishna recounted, that Deroop was at the stall vending at around 6:30 in the morning when two armed men rushed into the stall and held the man at gunpoint while they demanded the bag which contained the jewellery. Stabroek News was told that the perpetrators escaped into the nearby canefield.
