The police this morning said that a quick response and diligent work by ranks of ‘D’ Division yesterday resulted in the apprehension of four of six suspects along with a firearm and ammunition, shortly after they executed an armed robbery on a shop located at Cornelia Ida, W.C.D, escaping with valuables inclusive of cash, jewellery and a cellular phone.
Investigation, police said, revealed that about 13:25hrs four males entered the business operated by a mother and daughter and pretended to be customers. Minutes after, two of the men whipped out firearms, pounced and subsequently relieved the victims of their valuables and fled the scene in a waiting Spacio Motor Car; discharging several rounds in the air.
The matter, the police said, was reported and ranks promptly responded and intercepted the getaway car (Spacio) several villages east of Cornelia Ida, with only the driver who hails from ‘D’ Field Sophia and who revealed that the bandits entered another vehicle driven by another of their associates, heading towards the Harbour Bridge.
Observing that police ranks were in place at a “road block” at the Western end of the Harbour bridge, the car with the bandits sped away into Parfaite Harmonie, and crashed into a concrete culvert, during which the driver who hails from Section ‘K’ Vryheid, E.C.D, was alleged to have been accidentally shot in his upper right arm by one of his armed accomplices. The bandits desperate to get across the Harbour bridge to escape from the police, abandoned their injured accomplice and boarded separate vehicles destined for Georgetown. Two of them, police said were nabbed at the Harbour Bridge; one who hails from Lamaha Park Georgetown with the unlicensed firearm and five rounds. He has since admitted to the crime and for shooting his accomplice, who was treated at the W.D.R.H and discharged. Efforts are being made to have the other two suspects arrested. The two vehicles have been lodged.
Investigation are in progress.
The earlier story follows:
A driver is now in custody after he helped armed bandits escape with jewellery and cash that they took in an attack yesterday on a Cornelia Ida, West Coast Demerara business.
Ganindra, also known as Robin, of Cornelia Ida New Housing Scheme, said he was in Parika when he received news that his family had been attacked and robbed by three men. “I got the call and I rush down and I try calling people on the way to see who I could get to go help and try to get the police,” the man related. He explained that when he arrived at his home, he saw his traumatised wife, mother-in-law, and three children, who related to him what had happened.
“It was around 1.15, they said. My mother-in-law and son were in the shop in front of the house and my two other children were inside and my wife [Tasha] upstairs when three men come in the shop,” Robin related to Stabroek News yesterday at his home, where family members and friends had gathered to offer their support.
He related that all three of the men were unmasked and armed with handguns. After they entered the shop, two of them stayed at the back while one of them approached his son, who was at the counter at the time, and asked to purchase a phone card.
After the man placed his money on the counter and his son bent down to get the phone card, the other two men forced the shop doors closed, while the one at the counter drew his gun.
“They close the door and hold up my son and mother-in-law and then carry them in the house where my other son was,” the distraught man explained. With tears in his eyes, Robin related that the three men took the family upstairs, where his wife was, placed them all on their knees and demanded cash and jewellery.
Throughout the ordeal, his youngest daughter was on the veranda. When she noticed what was happening, Robin related, the 11-year-old girl hid herself until it was all over.
After his family members kept saying that they did not have any money, Robin said, one of the men grabbed his wife and hit her several times in her head with the gun before chucking her into the wall.
“After they do she duh, they grab off she rings that she had on her finger and her married ring wasn’t coming off so the man try to bite it off,” he said. However, luckily, his wife was able to remove the ring before the man could’ve bit her finger off. He added that after they removed his wife’s jewellery and his mother-in-law’s, the men kept on demanding money and more jewellery and kept threatening to harm the family if they did not get more.
“My wife tell them that everything we have in the shop and they went down back in the shop and take all the money we had in the drawer and left,” he said.
However, while the men casually walked out the front yard and headed north, Robin explained, a businessman from the area noticed them walking out of the yard, became suspicious and started honking his horn to alert persons in the area. The three men then fired about three shots in the man’s direction and escaped in a silver Spacio.
While the men were escaping, two off-duty police officers, who were returning home from Masjid in a taxi, noticed the commotion and instructed the taxi to follow the car. “They follow them to Hague and apparently the car man drop them guys off in there and drive off again,” Robin pointed out. He explained that even after he called the Dem Amstel Police Station and alerted them to what was going on and that two off-duty police officers were chasing the alleged perpetrators, it took some 10 minutes before any officers were sent to assist.
A road block was subsequently set up at Vreed-en-Hoop and around Crane, where the two off-duty officers were tracing the car, and the police were able to stop the vehicle and apprehend the driver, who was then taken to the Vreed-en-Hoop police station and is assisting with the investigations.
However, according to Robin, neighbours had explained to him that the three men were initially transported to the area by a taxi.
Even though the police were unable to apprehend the three men, Robin said he was thankful for the efforts of the off-duty police officers, though he was not satisfied with the response he received from the Den Amstel Police Station.
