The business community fears that crime may be surging once again in Upper Corentyne, Berbice.
This is according to President of the Upper Correntyne Chamber of Commerce and Industry (UCCCI) Krishnand Jaichand, in wake of recent crimes committed against members of the body.
Mitra Dudnauth, owner of Kumar Hardware store in Berbice, was robbed and shot in his yard just last Friday and the police are yet to make any headway in the case. The business owner had left a UCCCI meeting at around 8.30 pm to go home.
After he parked his car in his yard, Jaichand said, Dudnauth proceeded to check the perimeter, which he does religiously when he gets home. It was while he was doing this that two young men confronted him and demanded that he hand over his possessions.
The men, who were armed, managed to relieve Dudnauth of an undisclosed sum of cash, his car keys and his cellphone before he yelled out to his wife to lock the shop which is attached to the couple’s home. Having been alerted to what was happening to her husband, Dudnauth’s wife reportedly started to follow his instructions and also started screaming to her neighbours for help after she heard two gunshots.
Dudnauth had been shot. The man has received treatment for his injuries and his condition is stable but those responsible are yet to be apprehended, Jaichand said.
Jaichand also said that yet another businessman was robbed of $200,000 a few days before last Friday’s attack. In addition to these attacks, 79-year-old Hardware Store owner Abdul Majid was found dead in his store on September 15 with his feet tied, while his wife was terrorised and robbed. It was later determined that he had died of strangulation. A few days before Majid was found, an elderly businesswoman was murdered, and on September 17 a Corentyne businessman was beaten and robbed.
Significant progress has not been many in any of these cases. Although four men had been detained for questioning in relation to the Majid murder, none of them were charged and no other person was taken into custody.
Jaichand is of the opinion that no progress will be made unless “proper detectives” are deployed to address the situation and he sees these most recent robberies as an indication that crime may once again be surging.
