Enterprise, East Coast Demerara block-maker Rajendra Singh is hospitalised in a critical condition after he was shot by bandits at his home on Thursday night.
Singh, 33, of Lot 14 K Drive, Enterprise is on life support at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) after the gunshot wound left him with a damaged liver and kidney. The bandits carted off over $1 million in jewellery and an undisclosed sum of Guyanese, US, and Canadian currency. No arrests have been made.
In a statement, police said that at about 10:20pm on Thursday, two men armed with a firearm and a knife attacked Singh’s brother, Dinesh, 16, while he was on the verandah of his home at Enterprise. “The men tied him up and then ransacked the building and took away an undisclosed sum of foreign currency and a cell phone,” the police said. The statement added that Singh, who was at a neighbouring house, responded and was shot to his abdomen. Investigations are in progress, the police said.
Singh’s relatives told Stabroek News that the man was returning home after making blocks at his neighbor’s home obliquely opposite his house. His aunt Anita Ramden related that two bandits infiltrated the yard from the direction of the Railway Embankment. The residence has two verandas, one facing the embankment and another on the opposite side of the house.
Ramden said that the men made their way up the stairs to the veranda facing away from the embankment where they found and attacked Dinesh. The men reportedly then proceeded to beat Dinesh about the head to subdue him. Ramden said that while his younger brother was being attacked, Singh was heading home. She said he saw three persons on the veranda of the home but thought nothing of it since he thought it was his two brothers and cousin.
None the wiser, Singh entered the yard and proceeded up the stairs leading to the veranda where his brother was being battered. Ramden said that as Singh was climbing the stairs, the bandits, who were armed with a knife and a gun, fired three shots in his direction.
One of those bullets pierced Rajendra’s abdomen, damaging his kidney and liver. This caused him to fall down the stairs.
Ramden said that the men then proceeded to bind Dinesh before placing him to lie on a bed following which they ransacked the house in search of money and jewelry which were eventually found in a wardrobe in his mother’s bedroom. Ramden estimated that the men found and carted of approximately $1 million in jewelry. The men also reportedly made off with an undisclosed sum of US, Canadian, and Guyanese currency that the family was planning to use to repair their truck.
Also in the house at time of the robbery, albeit unknown to the assailants, were Singh’s wife and his 11-year-old son, who sought refuge in the bottom flat of the house.
Singh was subsequently rushed to the GPH by a neighbour and his father who came home shortly after the robbery. Relatives of the man said that he was x-rayed and this revealed that his liver and kidney had been damaged. The procedure however, failed to show doctors where the bullet which penetrated his abdomen was lodged. As such, the bullet, up to yesterday afternoon, was still lodged in his abdomen.
Up to late yesterday, Ramden said, Singh was listed as critical and he was placed on life support. Investigations are continuing.
