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.
She
said she alerted her husband, Deoraj Jagdeo, telling him that the men
looked like thieves.
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.
Persaud
said she also received lashes from the cutlass, including one across
her chest.
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.
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.
