A Canal No.2, West Bank Demerara businessman was yesterday robbed of $1 million in cash and his licensed revolver during a stick-up carried out by two men.
Godfrey Best, 47, was attacked by two unmasked men, one of whom was armed with a gun, around midday, shortly after he had left a Vreed-en-Hoop bank and was about to conduct a business transaction at a shop at Versailles.
Best was relieved of the cash that he had withdrawn minutes before and his .32 revolver. The men then fled the scene on a motorbike, but were pursued by Best, who gave chase after them in is van. He also informed the police of what was transpiring and they later set up road blocks in the direction that the men fled in an effort to capture them. Up to press time, police were still looking for the men.
Best told Stabroek News that he had left his Vreed-en-Hoop supermarket to for the bank and had noticed a yellow car parked next to his business place. He said he saw one of the men who robbed him sitting in the car and he even spoke with him as he was looking at something on his van.
“They were talking about how if you see somebody get knock down on de road in Suriname, you have to leave them there ’cause if you pick them up, the police does say is you kill them and that is when I butt in the conversation,” he said.
He added that after, he drove to the nearby bank and withdrew the money, which he was going to use to purchase two freezers for his business.
He added that after he withdrew the money, he headed to a shop at Versailles to make a purchase. It was there that the two men approached him as he was at the shop’s counter.
“One of them came up to me and start lashing me with the gun while de other one telling he ‘Shoot he! Shoot he!” he recalled, saying that as one of the men hit him with a gun, the other relieved him of the bag containing the cash. The accomplice also placed his hands inside his right side pants pocket and took his gun before the duo escaped on a motorbike.
As the men rode away, a determined Best got into his van and drove behind them. He said that as he was driving, he called the police. “I drive behind them and they were about to turn into the Bridge Road but then I turn and them turn into de old road, so I go round to block them at Old Road but they turn into Dairy Road,” he said.
At this point, Best said he ended his chase because the road the men went into has lots of speed bumps on it. He also stated that the police then arrived at the scene and set up road blocks in an effort to capture the men, who are believed to still be in the area.
Best believed his firearm was the target of the robbery, since there were many persons in the shop conducting business when the incident occurred.
The police are currently conducting further investigations into the matter. (Mandy Thompson)
