A Craig, East Bank Demerara family was left traumatised after a group of masked bandits attempted to break into their home on Friday morning.
The attack occurred around 2am at Lot 17 Old Road Craig and was allegedly committed by a group of about three to six men, whose faces were concealed. They were also armed with at least one gun as they opened fire at one of the members of the household during the attack.
At the time, Sara Bharrat and her 82-year-old grandmother, Phaganie Bhairo, known as ‘Aunty Myriel,’ were alone at home.
The family owns a shop, Satrohan General Store, which is connected to the house. One of Bharrat’s uncle runs the shop but does not live with them.
His brother, Lakhan Satrohan, who lives behind Bharrat’s home, would normally watch over the business from mid-night until the wee hours of the morning due to previous attacks.
Satrohan noticed movements in the yard and armed himself with a cutlass in an attempt to confront the bandits. However, they opened fired at him. Fortunately for him, they missed.
Police Commander of Region 4(B) Kurleigh Simon told this newspaper that an investigation has since been launched. He said no arrest had yet been made.
According to Simon, the police were working along with the victims to gather as much information possible.
Up to Friday afternoon, he had said investigators were unable to identify any persons of interest.
Bharrat said that she was awakened upon hearing shouts coming from Satrohan. “And I heard like a banging. Then I heard some muffled voices respond to him, I couldn’t make out what they said then I heard two loud sounds that sounded like gunshots to me,” she said.
As a result, Bharrat said she immediately sensed something was wrong and telephoned an aunt, who resides at Craig Sideline Dam.
“Like within two minutes of me hearing those sounds, my uncle, Mamoo Mahipaul [Satrohan] shouted for me and he said ‘Bandits just try to come in the place,’” Bharrat recalled.
She said she then listened for other sounds before she proceeded outside. “So I came downstairs, opened up and he started to tell me what happened,” she added.
“He said he just took a break to go make a cup of coffee and he said when he was coming back now, he see a shadow and he realised somebody in the yard. So he immediately run and picked his cutlass up from where he had it stashed and run behind a post out there and then he started hitting his cutlass to the side of the wall and he shouted to them ‘Ayo come in hay, y’all gun see!” Bharrat explained.
She stated that Satrohan told her that he saw three men. “He seh he hear one ah them seh ‘pass the gun, pass the gun’,” Bharrat said.
Satrohan quickly hid behind a post after which he heard two gunshots ringing out. “One of the gunshots hit one of the beams outside and the other one flew somewhere into the back yard. They shot at him. The intent was clearly to disable him so that he couldn’t run after them or to harm them…then they just quickly jumped over the gate and escaped,” Bharrat further said.
Bharrat subsequently spoke with an aunt about the attack and informed her that no one was injured and the men had fled. Within a few minutes, she said her aunt returned a call and told her that she spotted the men. “She was like ‘yes we see them. It was like six of them. Their faces well hidden and they dash across the Kaneville Bridge,” she said.
While all this was happening, Satrohan checked around the yard to make sure the bandits were not already in the process of making their way into the house or shop.
He confirmed that it is a norm for him to watch over the property in the evenings leading into early morning hours because of the previous attempts on the family.
“Up and down I does deh. I does look over the place fah my big brother. I mussy spend an hour and I mussy come back about something to 1. I put one some water to mek some coffee,” he said.
He said he had spent about an hour in the yard after which he went over to his place to prepare a cup of coffee. Upon completing this, he said he watched outside when he noticed movements in the yard.
“So when I watch, I see movement in front. So me seh, this can’t be on the road. So ah pick up the cutlass and I go by the gate and me see he movement inside the yard. So ah decide fah run now. When ah run now, them [bandits] ah try fah get over the gate from the road side. So when them keep running, I keep half way by the entrance and near fah reach by the gate one ah holler ‘give me the gun, give me the gun’ and me turn back with one speed and go back ah the post,” Satrohan explained.
Police response
About an hour after the incident, Bharrat explained that she telephoned the Grove Police Station to inform them about what took place.
“A constable answered the phone…..he said ‘oh, y’all alright?’ I said ‘Yes, we are secure for now.’ He said ‘Okay, please come first thing in the morning and make a report,’” she said.
Bharrat said she viewed this as “normal” because in the past when such incidents occurred, the family would make a report at daybreak.
However, after Bharrat detailed the situation on Facebook, it was shared with senior police, resulting in Simon reaching out to her.
She said the sergeant for the police station and a corporal also visited her house. “They were very apologetic. They explained that this constable didn’t follow protocols and so on,” Bharrat noted.
According to Bharrat, this is the third such attempt on the family for the year thus far. Prior to this, she said in May month end about five men attempted to break into the shop. One of them allegedly jumped the gate and was spotted by a neighbour, who raised an alarm, causing them to flee.
In November, 2019, she added, bandits broke into the shop and carted off more than $1.5 million in goods.
To date, no charges have been laid in relation to the past incidents.
“In February a CID (Criminal Investigation Department) did come and check but there was nothing that they could do at that point,” Bharrat related.
Bharrat noted that crime appeared to be on the rise in her community. Over the last six weeks, she said, she has heard about six instances whereby homes were broken into and valuables were stolen.
“Whether this has a symptom of the current economic situation with the four and plus month long election as well as the pandemic, I cannot say for certain but what I can say is that certainly there has been a spike in these sort of crimes in our village,” Bharrat said.
She stated that tackling the crime situation in the country requires a collective effort of the armed forces, the communities and other stakeholders.
“My uncle is angry, my brother is angry, my grandmother is scared. How do you fix all of this? Anger and fear is not going to fix it. Just have to take a very realistic look at the system you have and figure out how you address those underlying issues,” Bharrat said.
