Two bandits fled with $5M in jewellery and $275,000 in cash, at around 07:15
hrs yesterday, after holding a goldsmith at gunpoint near the Parika Police
Station.
The victim is Ahmad Salem, 34, of Parika, East Bank Essequibo.
Salim, who operates a stall at the Parika Market Centre, said that he had
parked his mini-bus near the market and had exited the vehicle when he observed
two men standing nearby. He recalled that one of the men was leaning on a
bicycle while chatting on a cellular phone. According to the goldsmith, he
had just taken the bag of jewellery from his bus and locked the vehicle when one
of the men called out to him.
But when Salim turned to them, the men drew
handguns and stuck them in his ribs.
“They told me to give them the bag or
they would shoot,” Salim said. After a second warning, the goldsmith handed over
the bag, and the men, with loot in hand, fled on their bicycle through a nearby
street.
The victim ran into the Parika Police Station for assistance, but
after seeing only one policeman on duty, Salim and another bystander went in
pursuit of the men.
They located the robbers’ bicycle, which the men had
abandoned in a canal, but found no trace of the suspects.
Salim said that
several police ranks eventually turned up and scoured the area without
success. The businessman said that the outcome would have been different
had he been armed. He complained that his applications for a firearm have not
been approved.
Meanwhile, the police have since detained two suspects
in connection with the robbery.
Monday, February 4, 2008
.