An Anna Regina businessman was on Sunday evening robbed and beaten by two unidentified armed men at his shop.
The robbery of Janack Dharie aka Sanko occurred around 7.30 pm. The men managed to cart off $700,000 cash, one bangle worth $100,000, phone cards worth $200,000, and two cell phones worth $220,000. The bangle and one of the cellphones belonged to two customers who were in the shop at the time of the robbery.
The businessman estimated his loss at over $1 million dollars. Still visibly shaken, Dharie said that he was in his shop when he was approached by the men who posed as customers. He said that at the time two other customers were in his shop when one of the men pointed his gun in their direction. He said they then pointed the weapons at him and demanded cash.
“One of the men told me pass the cash before they kill me like that pastry vendor, I told him don’t do nothing to me I have some money and I will give them. The man just locked off my throat with one of his hand and then took the gun and put it to my head”, the businessman related.
He said that he began to bleed profusely when one of the men started to choke him. He then took the men to the third flat of his three-story building and gave him the cash. The businessman said he is really saddened over the entire ordeal because he works daily to maintain his livelihood.
“It’s sad when you work so hard and then gunmen just come and take your earnings away, shop work is not a lot of money… is one, one dollar you got to build to get a good profit… one, one dollar you got to add up,” the injured businessman said.
The businessman’s son, Maheep Dharie said he heard a noise but thought it was his mother and his father.
“When I peeped, I saw the man had my father. I immediately shouted to the neighbours that bandits were in the shop and then my mother was downstairs so I told her. But by then the men came down and we began to fight with them,” the son said. He said that he was injured during the ordeal. He related that one of the men jumped the fence while another escaped in a “black wagon” that was waiting on the street for him. Residents began to run behind one of the men but he escaped. The police were called but did not show up immediately. Residents along with the businessman’s son combed the area but the men had already escaped.
The businessman’s son said he called the police with the intention that they would set up roadblocks so as to apprehend the vehicle that was involved in the robbery. However, the police took some time to arrive. The businessman was taken to the Suddie Public Hospital where he received treatment for his injuries and was later discharged. The family is calling on the police to follow all leads to ensure that the suspects are apprehended.
