By Bibi Khatoon
A Canal No.2 Polder family put up a fight on Tuesday morning and managed to disarm one of two bandits who invaded their West Bank Demerara (WBD) house.
The family also assisted in the arrest of the driver of the getaway vehicle.
News Room understands that two masked men entered the family’s Lot 77 Alliance, Canal No.2 yard in which there are three houses, just after midnight by holding a male relative at gunpoint and forced him to unlock the doors.
At the time, the male relative was sleeping in a hammock outside, as per the norm.
Though they managed to cart off close to $1M in cash and an undisclosed amount of jewellery, the men were beaten and chased by the victims, which led to the arrest of one of their accomplices at Leonora, West Coast Demerara (WCD).
When News Room visited the home, the police officers were in the process of taking statements.
According to one of the victims, ‘Priya’, the suspects, armed with handguns, first entered her in-laws’ home where they tied up her mother-in-law, father-in-law and sister-in-law before moving to her home which is occupied by herself, husband and one of her brothers-in-law.
“I heard a knocking on the door and they keep knocking…my brother-in-law went to open the door and they rushed into the room and they said ‘nobody don’t move it’s a robbery’.”
Priya told News Room she was ordered by the men to turn on the lights before they demanded money and jewellery.
“I passed the jewellery and some money, they were in $100 bills and they say ‘that’s not all, pass the rest of money.’ Then my husband take out two other set which he is claiming is around $717, 000.”
She said the suspects ordered everyone to lie on the ground but her husband and his brothers did not comply, resulting in a scuffle between them and one of the armed intruders.
The other suspect ran out of the house and Priya said she managed to escape from the house to seek help. She also tried to make contact with the Wales Police Station but to no avail.
It was during the scuffle that the victims managed to disarm the bandit, who then escaped.
The handgun, an unlicensed 9MM pistol with two matching rounds, were handed over to the police.
However, the brothers did not give up as they took their minibus and pursued the car which was used to transport the suspects.
Priya said the chase was given up at Vreed-en-Hoop after the minibus overheated and a report was made to the Vreed-en-Hoop Police station where officers managed to contact ranks at the Leonora police station to set up a roadblock.
The family was later told that the car, a blue NZE Toyota, was found and two suspects were apprehended.
However, the woman said strangely, when a visit was made to the police station later Tuesday morning, they were told that only the driver was apprehended and they were asked to identify him.
“They said if we can recognize the driver but we did not see the driver. We don’t know if one of the bandits was the driver that ran out but we did not get to see them as yet,” she told News Room.
News Room contacted ‘D’ Division Commander, Rishi Das who said only one person was arrested and he is unaware as to who told the victims about a second arrest.
Two of the victims sustained injuries about their faces and had to receive stitches.
The police later revealed that the suspects were also injured since a suspected blood-stained jersey, as well as traces of blood, were found inside the getaway vehicle.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The victims did not want their face or house to be published.
