A Crabwood Creek, Corentyne man was wounded yesterday when gunmen opened fire, robbing his employer of $5 M in jewellery during a robbery at the Rose Hall Municipal Market.
Kumar Gopal, 25 was rushed to the Port Mourant Hospital where he was treated for pellet wounds which “grazed” his face. He was referred to the New Amsterdam Hospital for x-rays and subsequently sent home.
Police said Gopaul was hit when three men, including one armed with a shotgun, attacked his boss, goldsmith Vishwanauth Seeram, 39, with whom he was leaving the market.
Seeram had concluded selling at his stall and was sitting in his motor car at Independence Street, Rose Hall, waiting on Gopaul. According to the police, as Gopaul entered the motor vehicle, the three perpetrators confronted them. The armed man discharged a round which damaged the vehicle’s windscreen and struck Gopaul to his face. During this time, the men grabbed a bag that contained jewellery valued at $5 million, along with a scale for weighing gold and a cell phone from the vehicle and fled police said.
Seeram told Stabroek News last evening that the bandits also took away a small amount of cash along with his personal documents. He said too that he was still terrified but was thankful that “God saved us today.” He said too that “up to now my ears ringing [from the gunshots].”
Seeram recalled that he and Gopaul were already seated in his car and he was about to drive off when he heard what sounded like gunshot.
When he looked around he saw three men with a shotgun around his car but he “couldn’t drive because the car was parked close up to the [market] gate.
The men then smashed the front right-side window and fired another shot which exited the top of the windscreen with some of the pellets hitting Gopal. They ordered Seeram to “give me the [expletive] bag.” He complied and they escaped with their loot towards a bushy area in the village.
A few residents who witnessed the robbery attempted to run after the bandits who kept firing, causing them [residents] to retreat. In the meantime, Seeram rushed Gopal, with blood dripping from his face, to the hospital.
The goldsmith said he has been selling at the market for 19 years and it was the first time he was robbed.
Residents told this newspaper that they saw the men running through the bushes and shortly after the police went in search of them but they had already disappeared.
The police say they are investigating an armed robbery that occurred at about 1300h today at Rose Hall, Corentyne, during which years of Grant 2767, Crabwood Creek, Corentyne, was attacked and robbed by three men, one of whom was armed with a shotgun.
