-police response slammed
A Corentyne man was shot by bandits and his wife badly beaten in a home invasion that lasted for more than half an hour with police taking over an hour to respond.
Samnarine Samaroo, 47, is currently a patient of the Georgetown Public Hospital with a gunshot wound to his thigh while his wife Tangamah Madramootoo, 52, both of Nigg Squatting Area, Corentyne is hospitalised at the New Amsterdam Hospital with injuries to the head.
Police said that at about 11pm on Saturday, four men armed with two firearms and two knives broke through the door and entered the home of Samaroo and Madramootoo at Nigg Squatting Area. The perpetrators took away an undisclosed sum of cash and a quantity of jewellery and escaped, a statement said.
The police said that during the robbery Samaroo was shot and injured to his left thigh and Madramootoo was assaulted about her body. The stock of a shotgun was recovered at the scene by the police, the statement said.
Indranie Hassan, who was in the home at the time told Stabroek News that she was sleeping when she heard Madramootoo shouting “thief, thief.” She said that the woman told her to hide and she slipped under her bed. Hassan said that the bandits began battering the door and because of the bolts and chains in place, took a while to do so.
Hassan said that when the bandits eventually gained access, they began cursing and demanding money and accosted Samaroo and Madramootoo and began threatening them while making their demands. “They start cussing up and seh they want money,” she recounted. She said that the bandits ransacked the house and took money and jewellery. “They ask she (Madramootoo) for a black bag cos they see she with a black bag at the market,” she said.
Hassan said that the bandits assaulted the woman as they made their demands and she eventually handed over the bag even as the bandits demanded more money. Madramootoo, Hassan recounted, said that she had nothing more. “They tell she they gon shoot she in she belly and she beg,” Hassan recounted.
She said that the bandits then left but returned and shot Samaroo and again searched the house. She added that neighbours also recounted seeing some of the bandits guarding the house and they fired several shots.
Hassan said that the bandits eventually left on foot via a back street. She said that numerous calls were made to the Albion Police Station but no one answered the phone. When contact was eventually made, the police did not come immediately but arrived until after midnight.
By this time, a neighbour had rushed Samaroo and his wife to the hospital. Hassan said that Samaroo’s wound was serious and they found a piece of bone yesterday morning.
Police investigations are continuing.
