A Cumberland, East Canje businessman was pounced on during the wee hours of Friday morning and robbed of approximately $1 million in phone cards.
Abdool Rasheid Hack told Stabroek News that he and his wife were alone at home when they heard loud banging on their back door. This was around minutes to three in the morning. He said he immediately suspected that it was bandits and he and his wife rushed into the front room and closed the door in order to hide.
He then started to call for help, alerting his neighbours that he was being robbed. Hack said, “Dem keep lashing the door. After me neighbour start say that he coming, dem walk out by the side.” However, the men gained access to the enclosed garage where Hack and his wife usually sleep. According to Hack, they sleep in the fully secured garage because it is more comfortable for them. The perpetrators also got into a back room, since Hack leaves the door which leads from the garage open to use the washroom during the night.
According to the 45-year-old businessman, four of the five perpetrators were armed with “long guns like wah the patrol have.”
He said the police were summoned and arrived shortly. “When dem man walk out so, about 25 minutes later the police come,” he recounted.
Hack said the men fired one shot through the window into the house. However, according to neighbours, three shots were fired.
Neighbours informed Stabroek News that they saw two of the five men standing in the empty house lot adjacent to Hack’s home, talking on a phone with someone. One woman said, “Dem a call someone on the phone and a tell them that he wake up. All dem neighbours wake up.” According to a few other neighbours, after the perpetrators heard them telling Hack that they were coming to render assistance, they fired shots in the air to scare them.
Although no one was hurt, Hack disclosed that he has suffered a loss as he has not yet paid for the phone cards the perpetrators got away with. They also took a smartphone. The businessman who operates an electronic and home appliances, stall at the New Amsterdam Market, said this is not the first time he has been robbed. He explained that his stall was once robbed before.
Commander of ‘B’ Division Ian Amsterdam said that no one has yet been arrested and investigations are ongoing. According to Amsterdam they are investigating all possible leads. “The occupants alleged that they were robbed, but they were not robbed, people went into the house and removed stuff,” Amsterdam said.
