Prompt action by the police in Berbice led to the arrest of three bandits after they robbed a New York-based family at No. 0 Village around 8:30 pm on Tuesday.
The masked bandits who were armed with a gun and two knives entered the home (located between No. 55 and No. 56 Villages) where Christopher Shewbarran, 48, his wife Ahilyah Shewbarran, 45 and Vadawattie Ramloutan, 45, were staying.
The bandits terrorized and battered the trio along with the occupants of the home and stripped them of their gold jewellery, US$6,500 and a laptop computer.
Ranks from the No. 51 Police Station responded quickly to the report and according to a release, “investigations led to a mini bus BHH 776 being stopped and searched” at No. 43 Village and the suspects arrested.
The release said too that a quantity of the stolen jewellery, the laptop computer and documents belonging to Shewbaran were recovered.
In an interview with this newspaper last evening, Shewbarran complimented Commander, Steve Merai, the officers of the No. 51 Station, “including the black clothes [ranks] for doing a swift job in capturing the bandits and recovering the items.” He recounted that they were in the living room when the bandits climbed the stairs and barged in through door which was “half-open.”
At time he said, he and the other relatives were assisting his wife with making packages containing school supplies and goodies for the children of the Alpha Children’s Home in New Amsterdam.
He said one of the bandits pointed the gun at him and grabbed him and said “nobody make any noise; nobody say anything.” The bandits then ordered everyone to get on the floor while demanding the “jewellery and money.” They also said “oh, so you all come from foreign and having a nice time, now we gon have a nice time.”
Shewbarran recalled that during the ordeal which lasted about eight minutes, he and the others started to “pull off the jewellery” they were wearing and handed them over to the bandits.
One of the bandits also told him, “Big-man gimme the money; find the money” and he gave them US$1,000 that was in his pockets. Not satisfied, they started to “hit me with the knife. They also gun-butted his wife and “beat up everyone else.”
According to him, the bandits entered a room and removed a pouch containing US$5,500. As they were leaving one of the bandits turned back and said “wait, ah forgot something and he ran back in the room and grabbed the laptop.”
The bandit also picked up chocolate from a chair and started to eat it and at that stage his mask fell off. Whilst escaping they told the family to “have a merry Christmas.”
Shewbarran said they arrived in Guyana on Friday to attend a wedding on the East Bank of Essequibo and stayed at the Princess Hotel at Providence.
They travelled to the Corentyne on Tuesday after making arrangements with the Alpha Home in New Amsterdam to treat the children yesterday.
He said they had barely arrived at the house when they were robbed.
He and the others are still traumatized and said the robbery has discouraged him from returning to Guyana. He hoped that the bandits would face the “highest penalty so tourists don’t have to be afraid to come back to Guyana.”
Shewbarran said he and his wife had to seek treatment at the doctor but he “thank the Lord that our lives are saved; material things we can always get back. We are just looking for justice.”
