No arrest for rioters who beat, rob Mon Repos market vendors

One week after vendors were beaten, robbed and had their vehicles and stalls destroyed at the Mon Repos market by rioters during an unrest along the East Coast corridor, there have been no arrests.

“No one was arrested, we are still investigating,” Regional Commander Khali Pareshram told the News Room on Friday.

Following the looting and robbing of the vendors, citizens took photos of some of the suspects fleeing with the stolen goods on the roadway.

Ravindranauth Jodhan, 44, was injured during the attack and only returned to sell at the market on Monday last. He told the News Room that since the incident, several vendors have not returned to the market and for some business is slow.

“Everything is slow because people are not coming out. Yesterday we hear again people protesting and when people hear that they don’t come out. Shoppers who would shop don’t come out because they are frightened.

“Only about 35 per cent of everybody that does sell, coming out,” Jodhan related.

Like many other vendors, Jodhan’s stall was ransacked by the rioters.

Hours after the incident, President Dr Irfaan Ali visited the affected vendors and assessed their damages.
Affected persons received full compensation for their losses.

The rioting stemmed from protests the killing of Quindon Bacchus at Haslington during an alleged undercover police operation. But the June 28 protest, which commenced at Golden Grove, extended to several East Coast Demerara communities.

It was at the Mon Repos market that it turned violent where a minibus and several stalls were set on fire.