Jealousy might have sparked Queenstown grenade attack

Police are still looking for the man who lobbed a live grenade at a Queenstown property early Tuesday morning and the owner yesterday said he believed jealousy was behind the attack.

Contacted Crime Chief Seelall Persaud told Stabroek News that there have been no new developments in the case. According to him, investigators have found no connection between this incident and the other which occurred at the home of Guyana Energy Agency (GEA) boss Mahender Sharma in March.

Persaud later added that only the military is authorised to be in possession of grenades.

Meanwhile, a still upset Doodnauth Samaroo said, “I am not afraid cause I didn’t do nothing to nobody…”.

The Essequibo-based business man said yesterday that since he started building the three-storey building, part of which will house another branch of Samaroo Investment, “me and everybody good and so on”.

In the light of the incident he said, he will ensure that security is improved and expressed hope that the culprit will be caught.

On Tuesday around 01:00 hours, a man walked up to the building located at 146 Crown and Oronoque streets and lobbed a live grenade before calmly walking to a white car parked a short distance away.

At the time of the incident, Samaroo’s son Bisnauth called Troy was in the building. He had moved in on April 1. The grenade exploded when it landed in the yard and caused minor damage to a window, the ceiling and a concrete column.

Bisnauth had recalled that he was awakened by the sounds of firecrackers which were part of the preparations for Independence Day celebrations. Sometime later, he said, he heard a very loud explosion and when he looked out he saw a car driving off. He said that he could not see the colour of the vehicle, how many persons were inside or the face of the driver since the bright lights blinded his view.

He said that he later inquired from a security guard who was nearby about what had happened and he was told that someone had thrown something at the house and it had exploded.

The man had recalled that when he went outside he was greeted by the damage. There were also cracks and holes resembling bullet holes on a nearby window.

A grenade pin that was a few metres away was removed by police ranks when they arrived some time later.