An online electronic store – Smart Fix cellphones and electronics –was on Saturday robbed of five cellphones valuing $800,000 after bandits set up the delivery using the Facebook account of one of their previous victims whose phone they stole.
The owner of the electronic store is blasting the Police who despite being provided with live updates on the location of the bandits, failed to pursue them.
The incident occurred at around 13:00hrs on Saturday.
The News Room understands that the store received a message on its Facebook page from a customer whose profile name was Shameer Shafeek.
Shafeek –a hire car driver –was robbed of his car, cellphone and other valuables on March 22, 2020, at Ruby, East Bank Essequibo (EBE). He reportedly never changed the passwords to his social media accounts since the robbery.
The person using Shafeek’s account ordered four cell phones – three S9 and one S8 –which they said will be taken into the interior for sale.
The robber told the store owner that his wife will be collecting the phones at Prashad Nagar, Georgetown.
A cell number was provided for the woman.
However, according to the owner of the store, the employee who was tasked with delivering the phones does not know his way around Georgetown and called the woman for directions. He was taken instead to North Ruimveldt, Georgetown.
Noticing that the woman did not match the description of Shafeek’s wife, the employee immediately locked the car door.
But three men rushed to the car; one placed a gun to the taxi driver’s head and the other pulled the delivery staff out of the back seat of the car.
The gunmen managed to relieve the employee of a bag containing the four phones, an additional Note10 which was supposed to be delivered to another customer, $100,000 in cash and two personal phones.
They also pushed the taxi driver out of the car –HC 6364 –which they used to escape.
The News Room understands that the victims visited the East La Penitence Police Station to file a report where the employee borrowed a cellphone from the Police to track his personal phone.
The phone was tracked in Albouystown.
One of the ranks decided to use a private car to follow the bandits who were now in Diamond on the East Bank of Demerara.
“The Police took half an hour on the road and come back to say they didn’t find anything. These ranks could’ve done better; we gave them live updates,” the owner of the store noted.
“There are so many other police stations on the East Bank, they could’ve put up a roadblock and catch these guys.”
The car was later found abandoned in Diamond.
The employee was told to return to the police station on Monday to give a statement though he resides in Berbice.
The reports about the Police’s response is similar to those received on March 23, the night after Shafeek lost his car and valuables. The shell of the car was recovered on March 30 on a trail to the St Cuthbert’s Mission.
A female was also involved in that robbery.
