A supermarket owner and his wife were beaten and robbed during an armed robbery on Sunday night at Lima Sands, Region Two, Essequibo Coast.
The robbery occurred around 8 pm. Seunarine Terbani was beaten with a gun to his head by armed men who demanded cash from him. A neighbour, Haimraj Totaram, who was on the road saw the assailants and shouted at them prompting the armed men to fire two shots in his direction. One of the bullets struck Totaram in the side, passing through his body. He was rushed to the Suddie Public Hospital and admitted. His condition was listed as stable.
According to Melisa Thomas, wife of Terbani, both she and her husband were sitting in front of their shop when they decided it was time to close for the day. Thomas said one of the gates was left open as one of her sons was outside. She said she decided to pack a freezer knowing her husband was around and her daughter upstairs.
“I was packing the freezer, I did not see anyone, however, one of the armed men came and pointed the gun towards me and demanded the cash… I gave him everything that was in the shop,” Thomas said. According to Thomas, she handed the men $600,000 in cash. However, the men were not satisfied and demanded more and proceeded to ransack the businessman’s house, grabbing more money and phone cards.
Thomas said the armed men were still not satisfied and took her and Terbani upstairs, asking them to lie down while demanding more jewellery and cash. Eventually, Thomas said the men managed to escape with an estimated $1.8m in cash and jewellery. The woman said she was thankful that nothing worse happened since the men had guns and they were scared. The police from Anna Regina Police Station were summoned to the scene and have since held three suspects.
