BANDITS
yesterday afternoon
shot dead a security
guard and robbed a
Georgetown store in
the latest daring
robbery attack since
the February 23
daylight jailbreak by
a gang of five.
Dead:
Chetram
Etwaroo
Security
guard Chetram
Etwaroo, 42, was
shot in the face while
on duty at F&I Jairam
and Sons Variety Store,
Saffon Street,
Charlestown. He died
on the spot.
The
bandits robbed the
proprietor of about
$600,000 in cash and
fled on a black
scooter, witnesses
said.
Etwaroo,
employed with Vigil
Security Services, was
stationed outside the
store when the three
young men walked up to
him, took away his
firearm and shot him
in his face, reports
said.
The
staff
He was
rushed to the
Georgetown Public
Hospital Corporation
where he was
pronounced dead.
Etwaroo,
of 15, Public Road,
Agricola, East Bank
Demerara, was employed
by the security firm
about one month ago.
Proprietor,
Mr. Francis Jairam,
said when he first saw
the three men, he
thought they were
customers and paid
them no attention
until he was attacked.
He said he immediately
took out a drawer
which had a small
amount of money and
handed it to them, but
they refused that and
took the other two
which had the bulk of
the cash.
Jairam
estimated the three
bandits are in their
late teens and
twenties.
The
distraught store owner
said the robbers were
"neatly shaved
and very decent
looking and very
deceptive" and
did not resemble any
of the five men who
escaped from the
Georgetown Prison on
February 23 last.
He
added that persons who
have knowledge of his
operations had
informed the robbers,
because they knew
exactly where the bulk
of his money was kept.
"The
way the men operated,
someone must have sent
them (because they
knew) where the money
was kept", he
declared.
The
proprietor, in
business for the past
15 years, said he was
now very worried about
his security and that
of his family.
He was
grateful that he was
not wounded and
expressed sympathies
to the relatives of
the dead security
guard.
A very
traumatised Mrs.
Indranie Jairam sobbed
as she recalled that
she was upstairs,
where the family
resides, when she
heard the gunshot and
thought immediately
that either her son or
husband had been
killed.
She
said she stopped what
she was doing and
hurried into the
store, saw the body,
and then realised what
had occurred. Mrs.
Jairam and her son,
Vickram, who was at
the time in the store,
took the security
guard to the hospital.
At the
dead man's home, his
sister and mother with
whom he lived, were
crying uncontrollably.
They
said he was a very
quiet, fun-loving
person who was always
willing to do favours
for anyone.
His
sister, Ms.
Chanmattie Etwaroo
said they received the
tragic message from a
member of the media.
His
mother, Mrs.
Parbattie Shivgobin,
who is ill, was very
shaken by her son's
tragic death and kept
on screaming after
they got the news.
The
security guard, who
was never married, has
one daughter who lives
in Suriname, relatives
said.
Mrs.
Shivgobin is now left
with three of her five
children.
A gang
of six bandits last
Saturday night shot
dead businessman Ramdeo
Persaud,
43, known as David and
`Sweetie Man' and his
reputed wife, Mahadai
Magoo, 34, also called
Sita Persaud, at their
home at 57, Peter
Street, Annandale
North, East Coast
Demerara.
Friday,
May 17, 2002