A search party formed by residents of Port Kaituma in an effort to recover the booty stolen by three men last Friday on the community’s waterfront came up empty-handed yesterday.
And while some believe that the booty may have been buried somewhere close to the men’s escape route others are of the view that a fourth person is involved.
“They came up empty-handed but I believe a fourth person was involved,” a resident told this newspaper yesterday from Port Kaituma in the north west.
Meanwhile, the third suspect in the robbery, during which millions were stolen, a pregnant woman brutalized and a policeman shot, was early yesterday morning apprehended while sitting on a swing in the compound of a hotel. Stabroek News was told that the man was spotted by a businessman who held onto him and summoned the police who later took him into custody. However, there was no trace of the $9M in cash and raw gold taken from a household at the Port Kaituma waterfront.
The man and his two accomplices, who were arrested on Friday following quick action by the police and public-spirited citizens, are now in the city and according to a release from the police the men would be arraigned shortly. It was following the arrest of the third that the residents decided to form the search party and they said they would continue.
And some residents are upset at the police at the manner in which they treated a woman from the community who had gone to them with some information. According to the residents the woman was held for three hours at the station and this has made many of them upset.
“We don’t like how they treat the woman at all. People would not want to give the police information if that is the manner in which they are treating them,” a resident said yesterday.
The three bandits had attacked pregnant Jacqueline James while her husband was away and one of them sat on her and repeatedly beat her with a gun while demanding money and gold. The alleged mastermind of the robbery is said to be a relative of the family who had worked on their dredge but things soured after he allegedly stole some raw gold.
Policeman Emrit Winter remains in a stable condition at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC) while the pregnant woman, who was beaten by the bandits, has been given a clean bill of health by doctors at a private institution.
