Taxi drivers yesterday foiled a carjacking, which ended after a high speed chase on the East Coast of Demerara.
One of the two men who attacked taxi-driver Latchman Rattan before stealing his vehicle was in custody at the Vigilance Police Station last evening, after he and his accomplice ran off the road while being pursued at Lusignan, also on the East Coast. A search still was on for his accomplice up to press time.
Rattan, called ‘Naresh,’ of Coldingen, East Coast Demerara, escaped unharmed from the ordeal, which began when he was hired by the two carjackers around midday at Enterprise. They asked him to transport them to the Dazzel Housing Scheme. One of the carjackers sat in the front passenger seat while the other was in the back. As Rattan approached their destination, the passenger at the back took out a piece of wire and wrapped it around the driver’s neck, strangling him, while his accomplice instructed that he stop the car or else he would be shot.
A relative of Rattan said the driver complied and the men tied him up and placed him in the trunk of the car, a Toyota Premio bearing registration HB 9523. Rattan was taken to the back of Bare Root, where he was dumped on the road by the men who escaped with his car.
However, while Rattan was in the trunk of the car, he had managed to free himself and used his mobile phone to inform his family and friends of what was happening. Another driver added that Rattan’s car is equipped with a mobile tracking device, which aided their search for him and his car.
As a result, the taxi drivers, who operate with Rattan at the public road at Coldingen, launched a search for the man and his car. In less than 20 minutes after the carjacking, they spotted the vehicle proceeding to the city along the railway line embankment.
A taxi driver who participated in the search related that the car was spotted along the railway line at Buxton and several cars sped behind while others spread out in different directions. He said that the carjacker who was at the wheel of the stolen car seemed to panic after realising they were being pursued. “Like he start panic and he turn in this road… this Lusignan Market road and when we approach he lose control and end up in the trench,” he said.
Once the vehicle landed in the trench, the two soaked passengers scampered out and ran in different directions while many residents assembled. Persons at the scene noted that residents cornered one of the men on the Lusignan Public Road, in the vicinity of Rockaway Auto Sales.
When this newspaper arrived at Lusignan yesterday, scores of residents converged at the scene as police combed the community for the man’s accomplice. Rattan’s family and friends were making attempts to pull his car out of the trench, while some persons lamented the brazen act by the two men.
The man in custody stated that yesterday’s carjacking was the first such venture he participated in with his accomplice. The man, who claimed that he worked at a private hospital in the city, also told residents that his accomplice was part of a group that would steal cars and sell the parts to auto dealers in the city. He said the group would also sell the stolen cars to unsuspecting customers.
At the scene, police recovered a bag abandoned by the carjackers. It contained a hammock, several pieces of rope, a toque and packets of condoms.
