Gunmen
attack, rob vendor, others outside Stabroek
Market
A
DARING early morning robbery yesterday by five men
armed with guns and cutlasses in the Stabroek
Market area resulted in several persons being
beaten and robbed of cash.
One
of the victims, Doodnauth Singh, called Billie,
from Canal Polder No. 1 on the West Bank Demerara,
told the Guyana Chronicle that about 04:30 h, the
usual time for him to purchase fruits and
vegetables from farmers who unload their produce
by the vehicle park near the Georgetown ferry
stelling, he was accosted by one of the armed
bandits.
Five men
armed with guns and
cutlasses
He
said the man came from behind and choked him,
emptying his pockets of $240,000 in cash. Forty
thousand dollars belonged to him and he got
$200,000 from his friend Mahendra Dilshan to buy
produce for him, the vendor said.
The
clearly shaken Singh said after the bandit
relieved him of the cash he gun-whipped on the
head, inflecting several gashes which had to be
stitched at the Georgetown Public Hospital
Corporation.
Singh
said there were some people around, but they ran
away when they saw the men were armed with
cutlasses and guns.
After
committing the robbery, which lasted only a few
minutes, the bandits left the scene on foot,
moving toward Lombard Street.
Singh
said he has been doing business for more than 30
years at the Stabroek Market but this was the
first time he was robbed of such a large amount of
cash. “I was robbed before, but never so big,”
he recalled.
Meanwhile,
the Guyana Chronicle learnt that another person in
the area was robbed of his licensed firearm, most
likely by the same group of bandits, and at least
four other persons in the vicinity were also
robbed of cash.
Vendors
in the market expressed their disgust at the
incident and are calling on the City Council for
improved security at the market.
“People
go abroad and develop themselves and in their own
country they are not allowed to do so because of
criminal activity,” one vendor told the Guyana
Chronicle.
Friday,
March 31, 2006