An Enterprise shop owner was beaten and robbed of over $1M in cash and other valuables on Wednesday, when three bandits, including a notorious customer, attacked him at his business.
Around 5.50pm, Hardat Kisseur was preparing to close his shop, located at Lincoln Street, Enterprise, East Coast Demerara, when a customer, known to him as “Mervin,” entered and requested a bag of chicken feed.
At the same time, there were two strange men standing in front of his business place.
Since the feed was stored in an outer section of the shop, Kisseur said one of his employees came out from behind the counter to unlock the area where the feed was stored.
Mervin, however, whipped out a handgun and held up the employee, while his two accomplices rushed in to help him.
Kisseur and another workman, who had been left behind the counter, were rushed by the bandits, who armed themselves with a cutlass and a hammer that were inside the shop. Mervin then turned his attention towards Kisseur and he placed a gun to his head and demanded that he hand over all the cash. He said he pointed to a drawer which contained the cash from the sales for the day and the men quickly grabbed the money and demanded that he hand over his firearm and more cash. Kisseur told Stabroek News that his brother, who stays at the same address, is a licensed firearm holder but he is out of the country and had lodged his weapon at the police station.
He said the gunman then began gun-butting him and directed him into the kitchen. Most of the cash was stored in the kitchen and he was forced to hand over the money after the man began assaulting him, Kisseur said.
Mervin, he noted, was on the verge of pulling the trigger. He said the man appeared to be under the influence and staggered a few times but he noted that there was no smell of alcohol on him.
Before escaping the bandits also collected a bucket filled with coins which one of the men struggled to carry and was forced to rest on the ground owing to the weight.
The bandits left on foot and got into a waiting car a corner away.
The ordeal lasted for about ten to fifteen minutes. While the men were carrying out the robbery, Kisseur said neighbours called the police, who arrived within five minutes after the bandits left.
“If wasn’t for the car the police woulda ketch them,” he opined, while he noted that the response from the police was prompt.
The police searched the area and neighbouring villages along the East Coast but came up empty-handed.
Commander of ‘C’ Division Marlon Chapman subsequently said no one had been arrested.
Kisseur said the attack was the third time bandits had attacked the business. On the previous occasions, his other relatives were managing the business.
Although the shop was monitored by a CCTV camera, Kisseur said it was damaged by the erratic power supply to the area.
He believed Mervin spearheaded the operation as he was well acquainted with the operations of the business. He said although he does not know the two men who aided in the attack, he has known Mervin since he was a child. Mervin lived in Bare Root, a nearby village, he said.
“He grow up in front of me… I used to take him to school with my bus. I know he mother and father and he whole family,” he stressed.
Mervin is well known to the police and the Vigilance Magistrate’s Court, where he was charged before with several other robberies and he is currently out on bail for a pending matter, the businessman said.
Another relative noted that the family has always been under attack. He recounted that one of Kisseur’s nephews, Vivekanand Nandalall, was abducted and murdered in 2003, and Kisseur also suffered a beating shortly after the 2001 elections.
