Dear Editor,
There has been an increase in armed robberies and petty theft on the Essequibo Coast. Although the police were informed hours in advance, they failed to arrive at the scene before the brutal robbery of a businessman at Zorg was carried out. At Cotton Field, thieves are targeting the residents at night; suspicious characters from Lima Sands have been seen watching stores and houses during the week.
A driver of a minibus who lives in the village and collects passengers for the Essequibo ferry at night, happened to see one of these young men trying to break into his neighbour’s window. After the thief saw the bus light flashing on him, he ran, and the driver began to trail him with his bus; he then jumped into a trench. The driver of the bus recognized that he was wearing a wig and a mask which fell off.
This gang had earlier in the week attacked and robbed several citizens from Bush to Cotton Field. The residents within these two villages have now decided to keep vigil and exchange cell and telephone numbers and in the event they are about to be attacked or robbed, they will call out for help since they cannot rely on the police to protect them any longer. The residents of Region Two are calling on the Commissioner of Police to investigate why the police are taking so long to arrive at the scene of robberies.
Suddie police station is just three villages away from Zorg where the businessman was robbed. At no time will the family of the businessman bypass the nearest station, which is Suddie, and call the Charity police station; this is a blatant excuse by the Commander of ‘G’ Division. The robbers entered the businessman’s house with rifles and held up his family and beat them, escaping with an undisclosed amount of jewellery and cash.
This ordeal lasted for over an hour and a half, according to sources in the village of Zorg; “the police have failed, and they have failed badly.” They never arrived on time and the robbers were able to make a calm exit from the scene. Many residents of Cotton Field are also traumatized by these sudden attacks on their homes by the thieves and would like to see Commander Rishi Dass return to this region. He was one of the best commanders to keep crime in check by using his patrol officers effectively.
At times he himself would be in the patrol vehicle night and day, in the vast forested terrain in the interior, and at Lima Sands where there was a lot of illegal activity.
Yours faithfully,
Mohamed Khan
