For the second time in six days, Kissoon’s Furniture Store has suffered losses at the hands of bandits, who yesterday made off with close to $1 million.
Two armed men entered Kissoon’s Furniture Store’s factory at Industrial Site, Ruimveldt yesterday morning, where they held the staff at gunpoint and executed a robbery. Just last week, two Kissoon’s employees were robbed as they were about to deposit cash at Republic Bank, just opposite the company’s Camp and Robb streets store.
According to reports, around 10 am yesterday the two men, who were neatly dressed, entered the company’s Ruimveldt location posing as customers and held the staff in the personnel department at gunpoint.
Personnel Manager Deo (only name given) said that as the two men entered the office, they drew weapons from their waists and ordered all of the employees to lie on the floor. Deo said he heard the commotion in the front office and was going to enquire what it was about, when he was confronted by the men.
“As soon as I was about to come out my office, one of the men put the gun to me and said lie on the f$%^&* floor,” Deo said. He said that as he lay on the floor one of the men gun-butted him to the back of his head. The men then calmly entered the office, where they ransacked several drawers and a safe. They then made their way out of the compound, jumped onto two waiting motorcycles and rode off. Minutes after, Managing Director Lyla Kissoon, who was immediately informed, dialled 911 to report the incident. The businesswoman said she was shocked to hear the sound of laughter on the other end of the line, before the person disconnected the call without responding to her.
“I was shocked because I dialled this number and a female voice came on laughing then the phone went dead. So I rang the number again and when she came on again, the process was painful,” Kissoon said.
Recounting the second 911 call, Kissoon said, she reported the robbery and was stunned when the woman asked where Industrial Site was located. When she said it was at Ruimveldt, the woman asked where Ruimveldt was. Kissoon said the woman finally understood where the robbery had occurred when she said it was in the vicinity of Banks DIH’s brewery.
Kissoon said the 911 call was a wake-up call to her since she had no idea that was the reception people sometimes received when they called the number. She noted that it was a hotline number for emergencies, yet someone was laughing when she called and even hung up on her, adding that it took a second call before the robbery was reported.
According to her, the festive season is here and a greater police presence is needed on the ground since similar incidents might be occurring with more frequency. Kissoon opined that if the force lacked the manpower then the Guyana Defence Force should assist.
Kissoon said she was more concerned about the safety of her staff than money since the recent robberies to hit the business have traumatized them. “My staff here at Robb Street are still affected from the robbery recently and now this. It is important that the police step up their presence,” she said.
Meanwhile, Company Secretary Toulraj Basdeo said it was unfortunate that the company was hit by two robberies in such swift succession and with the Christmas season approaching the company will be looking at additional security measures for all location. “As of tomorrow, we will be looking at armed security for all our locations,” Basdeo said. He said as far as he was aware, the investigators have some positive leads and are working on them.
On Thursday last two employees of the company’s Camp and Robb streets location were attacked and robbed while they were about to deposit the day’s sales at Republic Bank. A lone gunman grabbed a bag containing some $945,000 from one of the employees just as he was approaching the bank. In his escape bid the magazine from the bandit’s weapon fell at the scene, it was later picked up by the police. Back in 2005, the company suffered from a similar attack. In August 2005, a $1.5 million payroll was snatched from employees near the then National Bank of Industry and Commerce. (Additional reporting by Iana Seales)
