A businessman was shot dead by gunmen on Friday night on the premises of his Rosignol snackette, where he was celebrating his 78th birthday.
Tony Bishnauth, also known as ‘Uncle Tony’ and ‘England Man,’ 78, of Cotton Tree Village, West Coast Berbice, who operated ‘Sandra’s Snackette’ at the Rosignol Stelling Road, was shot once in the region of his right ear shortly after 11 pm. Two of his relatives were also wounded in the attack, which the police are treating as a robbery.
After the shooting, Bishnauth was rushed to the Fort Wellington Public Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
His adopted son, Mahendra Nagamootoo, also known as ‘Karan,’ 26, who is a carpenter, of Rosi-gnol, West Bank Berbice, sustained three gunshot injuries and on Friday night was transferred from the Fort Wellington Public Hospital to the New Amsterdam Public Hospi-tal, where up to yesterday his condition was listed as stable.
Nagamootoo’s uncle, Nathram Briglall, also known as ‘Bobby’, 46, an electrician, of Lot 23 Stelling Road, Rosignol, who was grazed by a bullet on his lower abdomen, was released from the Fort Wellington Public Hospital on Friday night after receiving treatment.
Commander of Region Five Yonette Stephens yesterday confirmed that one person was detained for questioning in connec-tion with the attack.
Stephens was asked if the attack could have been a possible hit since eyewitnesses reported that the perpetrators shot Bishnauth as soon as they entered, then robbed those gathered, Stephens indi-cated, that the matter was being investigated as a suspected robbery and that was no room for speculations.
She also stressed that up to yesterday afternoon, she had a large team of ranks on the ground conducting the investigation.
According to relatives of the dead man, he was celebrating his 78th birthday, which led to his relatives and an overseas-based friend gathering to join him in the celebrations at his snackette.
Nagamootoo, who resides opposite the snackette, told Sunday Stabroek, that they were inside of the snackette when three masked men rushed inside. “Them push down my wife and me two children and me adopted sister,” he related.
He said after the men entered, they immediately shot Bishnauth.
According to Nagamootoo, the men also attempted to shoot his sister but he hit one of them with a bottle and they then turned their attention to him and started to fire. “Them fire about nine shot but three catch me,” he said.
Nagamootoo, who was shot in one of his hands, his stomach and his back, said it was when they fired at him that his uncle, Briglall, was also wounded.
Meanwhile, the police, in a statement, said that an undisclosed amount of cash was stolen from Bishnauth after he was shot, while a pair of gold earrings, a gold chain and a cellular phone were stolen from his wife, Sunita Devi Khani.
The police said that Khani reported to them that after the bandits pounced on them and they refused to hand over their valuables, a scuffle ensued during which the bandits began firing.
They noted that the bandits stole cellular phones belonging to Nagamootoo and Briglall. Briglall added yesterday that he was also robbed of $35,000 in cash, while Nagamootoo’s silver chain was also stolen.
