Bandits on motorcycles have been terrorising residents of Le Ressouvenir, East Coast Demerara with five reported robberies in recent weeks.
According to Maria Jagdeo, a resident of Crystal Alleyway, the most recent robbery was on Saturday last. A man was caught on CCTV cameras stealing a bicycle from the apartment building next door to Jagdeo’s house.
Jagdeo who works at the Ministry of Agriculture was robbed by a knife-wielding bandit on a motorcycle last week Tuesday.
The woman said she was returning home from work in the evening when she heard a motorcycle approaching her from behind. After the motorcycle stopped in front of the apartment building, Jagdeo said she thought it was one of the tenants.
“I got robbed last week Tuesday night while going home, the street is shaped in L so when you clear the [Railway Embankment] and going into the street you can only see up to a part.
“I felt a shadow behind me and when I turned around it was a guy in a black pants and he had a black knife to my face and he cut my bag and run,” Jagdeo recalled and said she remains traumatised.
Her bag contained a gold ring, two cellular phones, her driver’s license and other important documents along with some medications and $120,000 cash that she withdrew that same day from the bank.
She told the News Room that the first robbery involved a young woman who was assaulted after she put up a fight with the suspect who was also on a motorcycle.
“The second robbery was the same motorbike, it was four guys going home from the motorcade and we are unable to identify the faces,” Jagdeo said.
She added that residents realised that the robberies were taking place within the same spot on the street but they cannot say if it is the same group of persons.
Jagdeo said she does not know the details of the third robbery but stated that the victim was relieved of his phone and money.
“All of my life I have been living in this area and this never happened, you could have known you were going home to a small village and you were safe going through the street, now you are fearful of even going home,” the traumatised woman said.
“When I am coming out [of the street] I cannot see who is coming in and when I pass the ‘L’ I cannot see who is coming from behind,” she added.
Jagdeo is calling for proper roads in the community and posited that this can help residents to feel safer. She explained that due to the state of the roads, taxis are reluctant to drop residents to their houses.
“The taxi doesn’t want to go in because the road is bad and drivers are complaining. We get street lights but we don’t know how long it will last cause people can thief it too,” Jagdeo said.
