A judge and her husband were brutalised and robbed early yesterday morning by a gang of armed men, who broke into their home in the secured, gated community of Felicity, East Coast Demerara, where they later engaged in a gunfight with a security guard during a botched getaway.
Although six men were allegedly involved in the robbery, police had held four men up to last evening, according to Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum.
Following the attack, Justice Nicola Pierre, 43, and her husband, Mohamed Chand, were admitted as patients at Dr Balwant Singh’s Hospital. The extent of the couple’s injuries was not clear and relatives declined to comment at the hospital.
Up to press time, Blanhum said that the police were at the hospital visiting the victims.
According to a police statement on the attack, four men broke into Justice Pierre’s home at about 1:20AM after they overpowered and tied up a special constable, who was on duty close to the house.
Police said the perpetrators held up Justice Pierre and Chand and their son and during this period the couple was assaulted. The bandits took away a portable safe with money and jewellery and a suitcase with articles.
According to police, as the perpetrators were leaving the premises, they were confronted by an armed security guard at a neighbouring residence and there was an exchange of gunfire. It was during this time that the perpetrators dropped the safe and suitcase and escaped.
The police responded to the report and investigations later led to the arrest of the four men.
Questions have been raised about how the bandits were able to gain entrance through a gate that was locked and operated by a remote control and subsequently managed to overpower the policeman on guard inside. The police guard on duty normally controls the gate. A police rank who was on duty at the area yesterday refused to comment on the incident.
‘Don’t say anything before I shoot you’
Persons living near to Pierre’s residence were completely oblivious to the robbery although they were awakened by a series of shots, which disturbed the silence of the early morning.
“We don’t know anybody get rob. I hear the gunshots last night but I thought was fireworks and when I look through my window I didn’t see no evidence of fireworks or anybody sporting,” the neighbour said. She added that she went back to sleep, since the disturbance was coming from a distance away from their house.
While Pierre’s house is situated in the last street of the community, the shoot-out happened on the public road. The businessman, whose property was being secured by the guard who confronted the bandits, said the shooting began at 2:30AM.
The man said the guard related that he observed six men coming out from the street and heading over the public road carrying the items they carted off from the judge’s home. The men spotted the guard since the place was brightly lit with street lights and the lights on the buildings in the vicinity.
“One of them tell my guy don’t say anything before I shoot you,” the businessman said, before adding that the armed bandit rushed towards his premises and fired at the guard, who returned fire.
After the security guard fired at the gunman, the other bandits began to fire in the direction of the guard, the businessman added.
Meanwhile, another businessman, who lives near the property where the shootout was taking place, said he was awakened as loud gunshots began ringing out in front of his house.
“I jump off the bed and pull off my wife because it sounded as though the shots were right on my verandah,” he recounted.
The businessman said some of the bandits stood on one of his machines he had parked in front of his yard and fired in the direction of the security guard.
As he looked out of his window, which is facing the road, the businessman said he saw two security guards on the property opposite to his running for cover.
The guards were reportedly shielded behind the thick concrete fence on the property they were securing. There were visible bullet holes on the fence when Stabroek News visited.
Jahan said he heard about ten to twelve shots in a succession. He opined that the bandits wanted the security guard dead since the bullet holes on the fence were concentrated in the direction of the security hut.
Shots were also fired at a parked car in the yard.
The bandits, who may have become confused after the unexpected fire from the security guard, dropped the suitcase and safe in front of the businessman’s house and boarded a vehicle that was waiting in the neighbouring village of Montrose.
The businessman suggested that the police force is lacking the necessary intelligence required to fight the upsurge of crime in the country.
“The bandits have more intelligence than us,” the businessman said, before adding that he has not gone to a commercial bank for the past two years because of the network of intelligence on which the bandits operate. He said persons are often tracked and killed in front of their homes after leaving a bank.
Various businessmen in the community shared their contact numbers with each other with the hope of raising an alarm should the need arise.
But the businessman said that the efforts are too minute to handle the crime situation and he called on the police force to quickly devise an action plan to effectively tackle the situation. He said there also needs to be greater cooperation in the communities amongst residents in the fight against criminal acts, while authorities need to foster greater teamwork at their level.
The daring attack came just hours after the government had announced an elaborate plan to tackle the upsurge in crime.
