‘Highway gunmen' abduct, rape contractor's wife, nursing assistant  collect $500,000 ransom for victims' release

 Three heavily-armed gunmen forced a Region 10 contractor to hand over a $500,000 ransom on Monday, after abducting his wife, an employee and an 18-year-old nursing assistant at 19 Miles, Rockstone.

Police sources said that the gunmen, who carried out three other similar robberies, abducted the 38-year-old contractor, his 31-year-old wife, a male employee and the nursing assistant at around 10:00hrs after stopping their car.

The gunmen reportedly took the victims into the jungle, but released the contractor after ordering him to collect a $500,000 ransom in exchange for his companions' release.

The women and the contractor's employee were freed some hours later after the contractor returned with the ransom.

Both women later reported that the men gang-raped them before they were freed.

The men also stripped the contractor's wife of some $30,000 in gold jewellery.

Kaieteur News understands that the victims only reported the robbery to the police on Wednesday.

Yesterday, police from Linden , aided by ranks from the city, scoured the area at Rockstone where the attack occurred, but found no trace of the bandits.

Police believe they are dealing with the same gunmen who have carried out three recent attacks on vehicles travelling on the Soesdyke/Linden highway and at Rockstone.

The victims of Monday's attack said they were travelling in Toyota PDD 6600, and had just passed the Mabura junction, when a masked man with a handgun emerged from the bushes and signalled them to stop.

Two other men, who had machine guns, joined the first gunman and ordered them out of the vehicle.

After relieving the contractor's wife of five gold rings, the bandits locked the two men in the car trunk, ordered the women to lie facedown in the vehicle, and then drove to another location.

They eventually stopped and released the contractor, with orders that he take the car and return with $500,000 in exchange for his companions' release.

The others were reportedly taken into the bushes, where the gunmen gang-raped the women.

Meanwhile, the contractor alleged that he drove all the way to Georgetown , withdrew the cash from a city bank, and returned to Rockstone with the ransom.

The victims were reportedly then released.

Kaieteur News understands that the contractor told police that he did not report the abduction earlier, because he feared for his safety.

Sources say that police took the two women for a medical examination yesterday.

The robbery was the fourth that the gang has carried out in Linden and Rockstone within an eight-day span.

Last week Monday, four armed, masked gunmen attacked a car carrying two timber company employees on the Soesdyke/Linden highway.

Ting Quen Zhu, 27, an interpreter and purchaser of the Coomacka South America Timber Company, and Chiu Ming Zeung, a mechanical engineer, were relieved of $150,000 and a cellular phone.

Last week Thursday, two gunmen with sub-machine guns and dressed in camouflage clothing, escaped with $86,000, after holding up a beverage truck at Bamia, on the Soesdyke/Linden Highway .

The victims are employed with Verdon Soda Factory in Broad Street , Charlestown , and were returning from Linden when they were attacked.

The gunmen had earlier attempted to hold up a bakery truck crew.

Then on Monday last, two bandits, armed with a shotgun and a machine gun, attacked 42-year-old businessman Azad Kadar and his 13-year-old son, Salim, as they were travelling in their truck on the Rockstone Road. They escaped with a mere $2,000 after beating the businessman unconscious and punching his son. That attack occurred some hours after the contractor and his companions were abducted.