A Stabroek Market vendor was on Thursday evening robbed by unmasked gunmen at his Eccles, East Bank Demerara home, becoming the latest victim in a series of robberies on the vendors.
The businessman is the fourth market vendor to be attacked in 30 days in a similar manner. The first died after a July 31st attack at his Bel Air home.
Reports are that the man, who operates a grocery at the Stabroek Market, arrived in front of his home in his canter truck around 6:30 pm and soon after he and the driver of the truck were attacked by two gunmen.
According to a police source, the two men, whose descriptions fit those of a duo who other robbed businessmen recently described, were observed walking along the roadway prior to the robbery.
As the businessman and his driver pulled up in front of the driveway at his home, the men pounced on them; both men carried guns. The bandits requested the men’s money and their mobile phones and they repeatedly asked for a firearm.
The businessman related several times that he never owned a firearm and the two men later ran out of the street and boarded a waiting car. The men escaped with more than $80,000 in cash while the driver of the canter lost his gold chain during the robbery. The matter is being investigated by ranks at the Providence Police Station.
According to persons within the market, the robbery was the latest in a series that has left market vendors in fear.
Businessman Albadar, who was attacked and robbed by two men in a similar mode as Thursday evening’s robbery, said yesterday that he is still traumatised by the attack.
The Vigilance, East Coast Demerara (ECD) man was robbed of $1.3M in cash among other valuables, including mobile phones and jewellery, three Saturdays ago at his home, moments after he arrived home from the Stabroek Market. He told this newspaper yesterday that he has not been in contact with the police on the matter since and neither have the police contacted him on the state of investigations.
Another businessman, Deonarine Nanan, who was robbed at his Republic Park, East Bank Demerara home several days after Albadar was attacked, stated yesterday that he does not believe the police force is working to stem the robberies.
Businessmen at the market say there is a strong belief that persons who work at the market are the ones in cahoots with the bandits. According to reports, there have been many other robberies which go unreported. “We want the police to do something because many people in here scared that when we going home bandits might attack and rob we,” the wife of one of the businessmen who were robbed recently lamented.
Linked
The spate of robberies began on July 31, when Bel Air businessman Frank Persaud was attacked and robbed at his home by two men who posed as Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) officers. The businessman later succumbed to injuries he sustained at the hands of the bandits.
Police sources said yesterday that there is every indication that all the robberies are connected but so far they have been unable to identify the robbers. To date no one has been arrested even though in one of the cases, the incident was captured on camera.
The victim had told this newspaper that he had informed the police that he had footage but the police turned a blind eye.
Contacted earlier this week on the Persaud investigation, Crime Chief Seelall Persaud said that investigators have managed to gather some information that could lead to the arrest of suspects. He, however, did not want to go into further details.
According to reports, sometime after 8 pm, three men purporting to be Guyana Revenue Authority officers visited Frank Persaud’s home under the pretext of carrying out a search of his property.
His wife Bibi who answered the door was subdued by one of the men and the man’s accomplices took Persaud to the back of the home and proceeded to duct-tape and stab him about his body. He was pronounced dead on arrival at the Georgetown Public Hospital. A post-mortem several days later revealed that he suffocated and also sustained blunt trauma.
