Two bandits, one armed with a hand gun struck at Wings Taxi Service on High Street yesterday morning and after gun-butting the manager, escaped with cash.
A distraught, Faizul Ali told Stabroek News yesterday that his face is badly swollen and he waited hours at the Georgetown Hospital for a medical certificate.
The perpetrators managed to grab $37,000 following the 12:30 am incident before fleeing in a white motor car with its back number plate missing.
Ali was held up by a gunman who was later joined by the driver. This newspaper understands that a woman was sitting in the bandits’ car.
The businessman, who was working as the dispatcher, recalled that a customer called for a driver who had dropped him off in Agricola, East Bank Demerara. The customer kept persistently calling for the driver to pick him up back and according to Ali, the driver was not responding to his radio.
Knowing that the drivers sometimes slept in their vehicles, Ali said that he left the office to see if the driver was outside. He stressed that this is not a usual practice but he decided to check because of the caller’s persistence.
“I just see this white 212 coming with a speed and a guy from the back seat, who had a yankee accent pull out a gun”, he said adding that he desperately tried to scamper back to the safety of the office but was unsuccessful. The driver of the car came out too and the two men forced Ali back into the office and began demanding money.
Ali said that he pointed to the area where the cash was and when the men realised that it wasn’t much, the gunman began hitting Ali in the head and face while demanding that he disclose where the rest of the money was.
The businessman told Stabroek News that he repeatedly told the men that there was no more money and at that moment a driver started radioing the base.
“I told them that if I don’t answer it people would start to come”, he recalled adding that on realizing that there was no money the men got back into their car and drove off.
Ali said that he immediately called his wife and on her arrival, the police were contacted.
“I must say that the police come quick man. They reach here like five to ten minutes after I called”, he added.
The taxi service had never been robbed before.
Police are continuing investigations into the incident.
