Family member attacks bandits with stones
- Ruimveldt Police Station
does not take reports over the
phone
By
Neil Marks
AN ALEXANDER Village, Greater Georgetown resident risked his life in
fighting off armed bandits who attacked his brother's family business in the
area Friday night.
Family
business
Debra Persaud said that around 19:30 hrs she was sitting in a hammock in front of the wholesale business outlet at Third Street when she saw five strange looking men walking towards her.
Debra Persaud (wife) said she also received lashes from the cutlass, including one across her chest.
Cutlass
She said she alerted her husband, Deoraj Jagdeo, telling him that the men looked like thieves.
Deoraj Jagdeo
The men attacked Deoraj, lashing him on the back with a cutlass.
Cutlass
No sooner
had Jagdeo emerged from inside his store than the men attacked him, lashing him
on the back with a cutlass.
Continuous
blows followed, Jagdeo told the Chronicle.
One of the
five men stood in front of the store.
According
to eyewitnesses, he had one gun each in his two hands, while two others were
strapped about his waist.
Jagdeo's
brother, Jerry, was just opposite where the robbery was taking place and he soon
saw what was going on.
He pelted
a `good size brick' at the man who was beating Persaud.
The man
with the gun started firing in Jerry's direction and he constantly dodged the
bullets, which shattered the glass on the right side doors of his car.
Jerry said he continued to hurl stones as he wanted to prevent the man from going towards a parked mini-bus, which his niece was in.
Randy Jajdeo (the son)
The
men also beat the businessman's son, Randy, using the butt
of the gun to hit him on the head.
Meantime,
the men also beat the businessman's son, Randy, using the butt of the gun to hit
him on the head.
The
businessman's employee, Hemchand Manbodh suffered the same fate.
A security
guard who was in the shop at the time was also beaten, and his money and
jewellery stolen.
According to Persaud, she had put together $416,000 to deposit in the bank on Friday, but she ran late, having had to take care of relatives who arrived in the country that morning.
The
bandits took off with that money and other valuables belonging to the family.
Jagdeo
said the stolen cash was what he collected from two days' sales.
He imports
dry goods for wholesale.
When the
men calmly walked away from the area, Jerry said he was about to enter his car
when neighbours told him that his right foot was bleeding.
Then is
when he found out that he had been shot in his right leg. He was taken to the
Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) for treatment and was home
yesterday.
Irate
residents said they called the Ruimveldt Police Station when the incident was
ongoing, but they were informed that the station does not take reports over the
phone.
"When
bullets firing all about, who they (the Police) expect to go to the
station?", one woman angrily asked.
Jagdeo
said that after the incident Friday night, two Policemen showed up at their
place and casually talked to them.
According
to Persaud, Randy and Hemchand were told to go and take a medical at the GPHC,
but they soon left as no consideration was shown to their disposition at the
time and they were asked to sit and wait on a countless number of persons.
Jagdeo
said he was told not to open his store until the Police returned.
However,
up until 13:00 hrs yesterday, no Police rank had visited, he said.
Sunday, August 25, 2002