A 17-year-old was shot yesterday by bandits who robbed two minibus passengers at Agricola, East Bank Demerara.
Abdul Kareem Shivrattan of 14 Public Road, Agricola, was shot to his chest at about 8.30 am yesterday and is now an admitted patient at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH).
The robbers escaped on foot and disappeared in the village.
A police statement on the shooting said the two bandits had joined the minibus, which was heading to Georgetown, at Diamond.
They asked to come off at Agricola, where the men held up two female passengers, Natash Rampersaud, 33, and Lalita Narine 53, of Diamond Housing Scheme and robbed them of their jewellery.
Although police said Shivrattan was shot when he went to the assistance of the robbery victims, an eyewitness revealed that the teen was hit while opening his gate as he and his sister were preparing to head to classes at the University of Guyana (UG).
The eyewitness said Shivrattan was not aware that he was shot until a relative pointed out that blood was trickling down his body.
Shivrattan’s father was inside the house getting ready to transport his children to classes at UG when he heard the gunshot and later discovered that his son was injured, the witness said.
The teen was subsequently rushed to the hospital by his father and he was in a stable condition up to press time.
Meanwhile, some residents were heard lamenting the fact that robberies were not uncommon to the village. “Is steady these things happening and them men escaping and hiding right in the village,” a resident was heard saying, as he pointed out that the bandits often use small walkways, where cars are unable to access, to make their escape easy.
On July 2, Sharon Baldeo, also of Diamond Housing Scheme, was shot and robbed under similar circumstances at the same location.
Baldeo had just left a bank at Diamond and boarded a bus heading to Georgetown, in company of her daughter, Nafeeza Yusuf.
An armed bandit, who was seated behind the mother and daughter in the minibus, grabbed the woman’s bag as he was making his way off the bus. She attempted to fight him off but she was shot to her knee and the man escaped with Baldeo’s handbag containing her iPhone and $200, 000.
Speaking to Stabroek News yesterday, Yusuf said that the police did not make contact with them after the attack and nobody has since been charged. Following the attack, police had said the suspect was arrested in Agricola and charges were to be laid against him.
