Two men accused of committing Tuesday’s daring gunpoint robbery on a Bartica gold dealer in which $1.8M and a quantity of gold was snatched appeared yesterday in the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court.
A police press release said that Orin David, 24, of First Alley, Wismar and Marlon Hincks, 30 of Hadfield Street, Georgetown were charged with the robbery under arms committed on Suraj Hansraj of West Indian Housing Scheme, Bartica.
They were remanded to prison and will make a second appearance at the Bartica Magistrate’s Court on March 17. The release stated that it was the result of investigations into a series of recent armed robberies committed on residents of Bartica that the duo were arrested and subsequently charged.
This is the first robbery in which persons have been placed before the courts.
According to reports sometime around 7 pm Hansraj, who buys and sells gold, closed his business place located at Second Avenue and Fourth Street and proceeded home.
As the man exited the taxi in front of his residence, he was held up by three masked men, two of whom were armed with handguns.
They then demanded that he hand over the bag he was holding. They then fled the scene.
Following subsequent investigations which included searches, four persons including the taxi driver were held.
Some items suspected to have been used by the bandits were also recovered by the police close to the scene.
Residents as well as Regional Chairman Holbert Knights expressed concerns about the sudden upsurge in criminal activities there. After a few incident-free days and despite a heavy police presence, gunmen struck again on Tuesday night. This is the latest reported case.
Following the upsurge, a team of policemen from the city was dispatched to the area to help their counterparts in Bartica bring the situation under control.
