Shot No. 19 robbery victim discharged

Mahendra Dharma, the man who was shot three times on Tuesday when he gave chase behind a gang that had moments earlier robbed his family, has been discharged from the New Amsterdam Hospital though the pellets remain lodged in his legs.

Dharma, 19, is now resting at home with two pellets below the surface of his skin in his left leg and a third in his right leg. He was shot with what was described as a shotgun by eyewitnesses. He is expected to return to the hospital to have the pellets removed.

Police, in a statement yesterday, revealed that a second person was shot while the gang of four men was escaping. Bibi Hassan, 62, was shot to her left shoulder and according to the release, remains a patient of the hospital. She was hit while standing on her veranda.

On Tuesday evening, around 7pm, Shivlall ‘Tariq’ Serkissoon and his uncle were in the yard of their Lot 9, Number 19 Village, Corentyne, Berbice home when four masked men scaled the fence and attacked them. Armed with guns and cutlasses, two of the four men ordered Serkissoon to remain quiet as they threatened to shoot him while the other two perpetrators followed a female relative, Keshia Mohabir, who was at the time caring for a baby, to the bedroom. There, a quantity of jewellery, estimated between $200,000 and $300,000 in value, was taken. Mohabir was lashed to her shoulder with a cutlass during the attack.

At this point, neighbours and persons at a nearby wake became aware of what was transpiring but could offer no assistance after gunshots were fired.

“People rushed out to help… and that’s when they fire the gunshots to scare them off,” Serkissoon had told this newspaper on the night of the incident.

The man and his uncle were gun-butted and beaten and both are said to be recovering at home.

Police have so far made no arrest as investigations into the matter continue.