Armed bandits snatched some $4M from a businessman in a well-planned attack on Thursday night at the North West District (NWD), and police have since been accused of failing to respond to the initial report of the robbery and telling the victim’s family that they were afraid to venture out at night.
Up to late yesterday afternoon, however, Rudolph Ashby and police were engaged in a search for the four bandits who carried out the robbery. At the time when he was ambushed, Ashby was on a return voyage home after collecting money owed to him for the supply of fuel.
According to a police statement, the attack occurred at about 6:30pm, when four men, one of whom was armed with a shotgun and another with a handgun, held up Ashby, 31, of Aruka River, NWD and robbed him of $4M in local currency at Baramani River, NWD.
Police said investigations revealed that Ashby was in his boat in the Baramani River, en route to his residence, when the men, who were in a boat, rammed his vessel. The men then boarded and pointed their firearms at Ashby and robbed him of the cash and escaped, police added.
Ashby was yesterday in the Waini area with the police looking for the bandits and the boat that was used in the attack, his father, Rudolph Ashby Snr, called ‘Big Rudolph,’ told Stabroek News.
He said that his son had previously supplied someone with fuel and was told that the payment was ready at Charity. As a result, his son travelled to Charity on Wednesday and the following day he collected some $6.8M. According to the elder Ashby, his son bought some items and was returning home when he was attacked.
He said that the bandits managed to catch up with his son because they had a bigger engine. He was adamant that the entire attack was a “set up” as when the men pounced on his son, they immediately demanded him to hand over the money that he had. He said that from all appearances, the men knew that his son had a large amount of cash in his possession.
According to the elder Ashby, his son had about $4M remaining after his purchases and he had placed the cash in a bag. He said that Ashby tied the bag to the boat so that in the event that the boat should sink, the money could be retrieved easily.
He said that his son managed to escape by jumping into the river while one of the bandits who was unarmed was trying to untie the bag of money. He then swam to shore. The elder Ashby told this newspaper that the bandits, after failing to start his son’s boat, fled in theirs. They headed in the direction of where Ashby lives.
The elder Ashby stated that his son managed to seek help from a man so that relatives could be made aware of what was happening. He said after his family received the distressing news, they made contact with police at Mabaruma but the ranks said that they could not respond at that time because it was night and they were afraid. He said that another of his sons then travelled to the area and returned home with Ashby a little before daybreak. The police, he said, was again informed of what transpired and the ranks indicated that they were in a better position to travel to the area as it was daylight.
The elder Ashby said that the police had no boat and no gasoline, which had to be provided so that they could go in search of the bandits. He said that the police should be equipped with a boat and high powered lights so that they can respond to reports of attacks on the river at night.
