The police have apprehended four of the six men who allegedly robbed a Cornelia Ida, West Coast Demerara family of a quantity of cash and jewellery on Friday afternoon and while one of the men has since admitted to the crime, another was accidentally shot by one of his accomplices.
This is according to the police, who said in a press release that quick action by the ranks of ‘D’ Division has resulted in the arrests of the men during which an unlicensed firearm and a quantity of ammunition were found. Two cars, suspected to have been used to carry out the robbery were also seized.
The injured suspect sustained a gunshot wound to his right arm and was taken to the West Demerara Regional Hospital where he was treated and discharged. The search continues for two other suspects.
The police said investigations revealed that about 1.35 pm on Friday, four men, posing as customers, entered the business place which was being operated by a mother and daughter. “Minutes after, two 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 police said.
A report was made to the police and they intercepted the getaway car several villages away from Cornelia Ida. At the time it was only occupied by the driver who hails from ‘D’ Field, Sophia. The police said he disclosed that his accomplices had entered another vehicle and were heading towards the Harbour Bridge.
As a result, the police said, ranks were placed at a road block at the western end of the Harbour Bridge, but the car transporting the bandits sped away into Parfait Harmonie and crashed into a concrete culvert.
It was during this process that the driver who hails from Section ‘K’ Vryheid’s Lust, East Coast Demerara, was allegedly shot by one of his accomplices, the police added.
“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,” the release stated. The other two of the suspects, one of whom hails from Lamaha Park, George-town, were nabbed at the Harbour Bridge.
Ganindra, also known as Robin, of Cornelia Ida New Housing Scheme had explained to Stabroek News that he was in Parika when he received the news that his family had been attacked and robbed by three men, who were unmasked and armed with handguns.
He had said that 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.
Throughout the ordeal, his young 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.
However, while the men casually walked out the front yard and headed north, Robin explained, a businessman from the area noticed them, became suspicious and started honking his horn to alert persons in the area. The men then fired about three shots in the man’s direction and escaped in a silver Spacio.
