Gun-toting bandits carried out a brazen attack on a Corentyne rice farmer and his family early yesterday morning shortly after a power outage ended.
The bandits entered the home of Tagraj Tulshi by climbing onto a shed at the back of the house and cutting a hole in the wall with a chainsaw.
According to the police, a gang of five men armed with firearms and cutlasses carried out the attack. Two stood guard while three entered the premises of Tulshi, 38, and his wife Indranie Takean, 32, at Number 48 Village, Corentyne.
Police said the bandits held up Takean and took away $100,000.
The press release added, “Ranks of a police mobile patrol responded to the report received and on approaching the scene came under fire. The ranks returned fire but the perpetrators managed to escape into the Number 48 Village backlands. The police vehicle was damaged during the exchange of gunfire.”
However, Stabroek News was told that the gang consisted of eight men; two of whom stood in the yard and two on the public road while the other four entered the home and terrorised the family.
When Stabroek News visited the scene, the hole was still visible in the wall and shattered louvre panes were seen on the shed the bandits had climbed onto to break into the house. However, the victims of the robbery declined to speak. Relatives who were present at the scene explained they were highly traumatised and devastated.
Sources close to the family said the bandits started their attack on the home at around 1.05 am. They said electricity had returned to the area around the same time.
Stabroek News gathered that the neighbourhood was awakened by the revving of the chainsaw and gunshots being fired in the air. Residents said the bandits shot in the air from the time they were cutting into the wall.
After the bandits gained entry into the home, they held up the family and demanded valuables. Stabroek News was told that they threatened to burn Takean if she did not comply and threw kerosene oil on her.
During the invasion, the bandits also gun-butted the couple’s daughter who is 12.
Almost half an hour into the ordeal, police arrived on the scene. But the bandits who were on guard alerted the others, before opening fire on the police as they approached.
According to Police ‘B’ Division Commander Christopher Griffith, the officers were on patrol in Number 53 Village around 1.20 am when they were alerted to the crime in progress. He said they went to the scene and were engaged, resulting in the patrol vehicle being hit twice. The bandits then escaped in different directions; police chased after two of the men but they eluded capture.
The injured victims were then taken to receive medical attention and police stayed on the scene until 4 am after the victims reported that the bandits declared they would return.
Police are currently looking for several suspects.
The government has been under pressure to rein in home invasions like this one in Berbice and other parts of the country.
