-two in hospital with pellet wounds

A search has been launched for two East Coast Demerara fishermen who are missing after two Guyanese fishing boats were attacked by pirates in Suriname waters around 7 pm on Wednesday, the pirates taking the two men hostage while escaping.

The missing men, whose names were given only as ‘Brown’ of Bare Root and ‘Micky’ of Good Hope, both East Coast Demerara villages, were working on the boat, ‘Prince Oman’ along with the vessel’s captain, known as Suresh; 39 year old Shaheed Ahmad of Vigilance, East Coast Demerara and 29 year old Venkataragavan Raghunauth of Triumph, East Coast Demerara.

Raghunauth and Ahmad were at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) last night seeking treatment for several pellet wounds they sustained about their bodies following the attack. Raghunauth sustained more than 20 pellet wounds to his body while Ahmad sustained wounds to his legs, abdomen and his ribs.

Speaking to this newspaper at the hospital last evening, Ahmad said that he and his colleagues were working on the vessel, which operates in Suriname’s and Guyana’s waters in accordance with the required permits, around 7 on Wednesday night in the vicinity of Caroni, an area in Suriname waters, when they were attacked by five masked men in a small boat. He said the men pulled up alongside their boat, demanding valuables while shooting at them and proceeded to “empty out the boat”, placing him and his friends in another fishing boat which was also attacked but whose crew members were unharmed. He said the men then damaged parts of the boat he was working on and also destroyed the vessel’s engine.

According to the experienced fisherman, the pirates took his two colleagues, Micky and Brown  with them as they escaped with more than $6M worth of fish, fishing seines and other equipment  which were being used at the time. He said sometime that evening they were rescued by a ‘Banga Mary boat’ which took them to shore in the Nickerie area in Suriname. The incident was reported to police in the neighbouring country as the men sought treatment at medical facilities there before travelling to Georgetown to seek further treatment last evening. Ahmad said he and his rescued colleagues made contact with their families and the boat’s owner from Suriname early yesterday morning, informing them of their dilemma.

Raghunauth’s mother and wife told Stabroek News at the GPH last evening that they received a call from him sometime after 10 am yesterday. His mother, Walima Raghunauth, said that she  travelled to the GPH late yesterday afternoon to meet her injured son, who she stated, sustained several pellet wounds to his face, chest and lower abdomen. He was being attended to by doctors at the GPH last evening as SN spoke to his relatives.

According to Ahmad, the attack came as a surprise to him and his friends, noting that they were expected to “come to shore” by Tuesday of next week to complete their 15-day trip. The missing vessel had no form of communication on board and according to Ahmad, the captain would normally make contact by mobile phone with the boat’s owner whenever they were returning to shore.
The missing vessel is owned by one N.Oman of Mon Repos, who told this newspaper at the hospital last evening that this was the third occasion she and her husband’s fishing vessels suffered at the hands of pirates. The woman told SN that her husband and the missing vessel’s captain have since ventured out to sea in search of the missing men and the vessel.

She and her relatives stated that the authorities should work harder to curb piracy, noting that the Agriculture Minister had promised on several occasions to address the matter. One of the woman’s relatives stated that the Coast Guard, “instead of harassing fishermen for money and goods”, should try to protect fisher folk working at sea noting, that there had been many meetings in the past between fishermen and the authorities on the issue of protection of fishermen from pirates.