Gunmen terrorise
another East Coast
village -- Buxton gang victim dies
Retired
teacher, Jainarine Singh,
also called 'Teach', who was shot in the head and was hospitalised
after a gang of armed bandits swept through Annandale on Friday and
robbed a supermarket of about $110,000, died early yesterday morning. Singh,
42, was shot in the head after the gunmen fired indiscriminately
during their escape into the violence-prone neighbouring village of
Buxton. And
yesterday, a gang of about 10 armed youths from
Buxton proceeded to terrorise residents of Vigilance South in
broad daylight as they went on a rampage, attacking, beating, robbing
and molesting dozens of villagers.
The
traumatised residents told the Chronicle that the gunmen barged into
their homes. The attackers terrorised and robbed the poor,
hapless and defenceless occupants, mainly women and children. One
woman told this newspaper she was molested by a member
of the marauding gang. The
visibly traumatised woman
said one of the gunmen lifted up her blouse and brassiere
and started to hold her exposed breasts. The
31-year-old housewife said the man also attempted to push his hands
into her pants but his bid failed because she was wearing a tight
pair at the time.
"People
struggling to mek a living. Nobody in this area ain't get TV or cell
phone or CD players anymore. Them come and tek all," Sukhdeo's
daughter, Mumtaz lamented. One
resident opined that the criminals operate in a fashion similar to
repossession teams from hire-purchase stores. "Dey
come, collect and carry away yu TV and CD player like they were
authorised to do that," the resident asserted. Mumtaz
and her family suffered the most during yesterday's ordeal. According
to her, three gunmen stormed their humble home at Lot 77 Third Street,
Vigilance South and terrorised she, her
five-year-old daughter Waheeda, 11-year-old Samantha; 13-year-old
Shawn and her mother-in-law who were at home at the time.
Sukhdeo
said this reign of terror has been ongoing and that every Saturday
they've come to expect the brazen criminals to attack and rob them. One
resident feels that only Indo-Guyanese
are being victimised and terrorised in this way since, for instance in
yesterday's ordeal, all five houses attacked were Indian households while
Afro-Guyanese living in neighbouring houses in the street were not
robbed. During
the ordeal yesterday, Esardai Khan, 54, of Lot 76 was home
alone. Khan
told the Chronicle she was cleaning shrimps when she saw the gunmen
entering her neighbour's yard and pointed "long guns" at the
household, including her daughter-in-law.
Suspecting
that the men would also enter her yard, Khan said she slipped out of
the kitchen and went to the back of her yard where she hid in the
outside toilet (latrine). From
the vantage point of the latrine, she said she saw the gunmen enter
her yard shortly after and storm into her house. She
said she watched, trembling, as the men, in a jiffy, marched out of
her yard carrying her TV set and a stabiliser. The
men also struck at two houses down the street from the Khans, where a
48-year-old woman, Somarie Patiram, was home alone. The men
terrorised her before leaving with her television set. While
all this was going on, Nandranie Pooran, 38, of Lot 96 Third
Street, Vigilance South, said she was cooking at the time when she
heard the gunmen running up the stairs of her humble home which was
barely furnished.
She
said one of the gunmen pointed a gun at her and demanded that she hand
over all the jewellery or else he will kill her. Obviously
deeply affected by the horrifying experience, she said she pleaded
with the gunmen: "Ow baba, me nah gat nutten, nah kill me, me
poor." She
said the men apparently realised that her house had nothing of any
real value and they left, joining the others in the street who were
moving to neighbouring houses on their terror rampage. Pooran
was home with two of her children, four-year-old Evon and two-year-old
Shoba and a neighbour's daughter, Mucho. Her husband returned home
from sea less than two hours after the incident. Residents
pointed out a house in Friendship which is located just a stone's
throw from where the invasion took place and where they claimed the
gang took the stolen TV sets and other items. They
said they watched the men as they calmly walked away with their loot
and into the house. Pooran
said that of the three men who attacked her, two were of African
descent and one looked like an Indian. The
house diagonally opposite the Poorans (Lot 75) was attacked by
gunmen just two Saturdays ago, and yesterday the occupants of the
house all fled as the gang again invaded. Bhookram
Singh, 59, who lives at Lot 75, told this newspaper that two weeks
ago, gunmen walked into his house, picked up a 19" Sharp TV he
had worked hard and saved for and had bought the day before, and
casually walked out with it. "They
come in me house and carry way me TV. Then dey ketch me
daughter-in-law and propa beat she," Singh recounted. His
daughter-in-law, Veronica Ross, 27, said the men cuffed and slapped
her several times in that attack. In
that ordeal, she said the gunmen carried away her cellular phone and a
bit of jewellery she had on. Ross said that during yesterday's attack,
she took no chances and fled the scene, running away to the next
street. "Every
Saturday them chaps this a come ya and terrorise we," Singh said.
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