Prompt response from police resulted in two suspected bandits being apprehended shortly after a brazen daylight robbery of a Mahaica family.
Rice farmer Jorie Gansham and his family had their Prospect, Mahaica home invaded by three bandits, one of whom was armed with a handgun, around 3 pm on Thursday.
The bandits escaped with $90,000, US$160, about $350,000 worth of jewellery and the family’s car.
However, the police in a statement issued on Friday said two suspects were positively identified during an identification parade.
The vehicle, along with part of the booty, was recovered during police investigations and charges are likely to be instituted shortly, the police added.
Gansham yesterday told Stabroek News that the bandits entered his yard on the pretext of being customers who wanted to buy paddy.
He said he was looking at television in his living room, while his wife was in the kitchen and their daughter was under a shed babysitting a toddler. Upon seeing the men, the young woman went to call her father and the men followed her into the house, where the gunman whipped out his weapon.
Gansham and his family were then ordered to be seated while the men proceeded to raid the house. The armed man kept the gun pointed at the family while he emptied a nearby wardrobe.
The man said since there was no significant find, the bandit threatened to kill one of the family members if more cash and jewellery was not handed over.
A cutlass that was in the house was also collected by the bandits and used to threaten the family during the attack.
Gansham’s wife said that she became very fearful and begged the bandits not to harm anyone while she directed them to the family’s jewellery.
While the gunman guarded the family, the other two accomplices ventured to the upper flat of the two-storey house, where they ransacked the entire flat in search of other valuables. The men also urinated on a bed.
The farmer said before the attack, a yellow taxi that transported the men had been spotted in the area.
Neighbours said they observed the yellow taxi when it stopped to let the bandits out and then it was parked a short distance away. The driver later drove away.
The bandits, meanwhile, eventually left in Gansham’s car. However, it is believed that although the men left in Gansham’s car, they later rejoined the taxi that had transported them to the community.
After the bandits left, Gansham’s wife ran over to a neighbour and called the police.
The woman said a detective answered her call. At the time, there was no vehicle at the police station so the detective, in the company of another police rank, boarded the detective’s car and ventured out on the road.
The woman said the policeman told them that he observed the yellow taxi speeding and he chased after it.
The police, according to the woman, observed the taxi stopping and the men attempting to board another taxi. The detective then drove in front of the car the men were about to board and blocked its path.
The gunman then escaped on foot while the other two bandits were apprehended by the police.
Two cellphones and some amount of jewellery have since been recovered. Gansham’s car, which was vandalised, was discovered the following day at Ann’s Grove.
The family said the suspects have been denying that they carried out the attack. However, Gansham said they are certain that the men arrested are the culprits as they had no problem in identifying them.
