A brazen attempt to rob Mahaica businessman Raajdeo Tahjpaul of $4 million in cash was thwarted yesterday when the gunman who attacked him ended up being chased by bystanders and then ran into the arms of lawmen in the area.
The suspect, who was ditched by his awaiting accomplice after their plan fell apart, was wanted by police in connection with two other armed robberies on the East Coast of Demerara, the police said yesterday.
Tahjpaul, 56, of Unity, told Stabroek News that he was at the Mon Repos Market, at approximately 8am dropping off “greens,” when he was choked and had a gun placed to his neck by a bandit.
He said when he was about to enter his truck, “he [gunman] said give me the bags you got in there.” Tahjpaul said he complied, but later grabbed at the gunman, who slipped on the wet road and fell, dropping one of the black plastic bags which contained the money. “Me and he start to fight,” Tahjpaul recounted. He said when the bandit saw him reaching for the bag of money on the road, the gunman said, “I gon shoot you.” However, an undeterred Tahjpaul said he did not care what happened and he continued picking up the money, daring the gunman, whose gun was aimed at him, to “shoot me, nah!”
Tahjpaul was on his way to deposit money for his boss, the owner of S&S Supermarket, located in Mahaica. He said he was also heading to Eccles to buy rice. He said the police told him that the bandit informed them that he [the gunman] was following the truck from Mahaica.
Tahjpaul also told Stabroek News that the police informed him that the bandit knew about a robbery that occurred at his home in 2010, during which he was shot twice.
A vendor at the market expressed shock at the brazenness of the bandit. He recounted that the businessman, who visits the market daily to deliver greens, was standing near his canter truck when the two bandits rode up on a motorcycle. He said that a man armed with a gun approached and stuck up the businessman. He said that during the holdup, the gunman pulled the trigger of the weapon several times, but it did not fire. The vendor opined that the malfunctioning of the weapon apparently gave the businessman courage to fight back. He said that persons nearby became aware of the scuffle and went to the man’s assistance.
According to Tahjpaul, the surrounded bandit broke through the onlookers and ran west, in the direction of the mobile patrol ranks who were in the area at the time.
The vendor said that several persons were in hot pursuit of the man and as they closed in on him, the police vehicle sped past the group and cornered him. The vendor said that having realised that he couldn’t escape, the bandit “throw he gun in the road corner and lay down flat on the floor.” Police said the weapon was an air pistol with pellets.
Those ranks became aware of the robbery when the patrol had stopped at a nearby pedestrian crossing to allow several school children to cross the road.
After realising that the plan to rob the businessman had unravelled, the bandit’s accomplice, who was on the motorcycle rode away, eyewitnesses said.
Tahjpaul further stated that he was robbed several times before and shot twice during one of the robberies.
