At the time of the incident, Sharma along with his wife, Marcia, their five-year-old son and a guest were at the Lot 263 Bissessar Avenue, Prasad Nagar house.
When Stabroek News visited Sharma’s home yesterday, the only visible damage was a broken emergency light, which was shattered when the device was thrown. Sharma’s wife Marcia Nadir Sharma told this newspaper that they had released a statement on the incident to the media and that is all that they had to say about the incident. Quizzed about a possible motive, Sharma said that he was unaware of one.
The couple’s statement explained that the couple and a guest were in the house when they heard a thud against the building and when they looked out they saw the shade of the emergency light was broken and had landed in the yard. Later at around 1:30 am when Sharma was letting his guest out he noticed what appeared to be a grenade in the yard. “It would appear that the grenade may have been aimed at the bedroom of the couple but missed its intended target, landing just below the window,” the release said, adding that calls were made to the police and the bomb squad arrived around 3:30am. The ranks removed the grenade from the premises and combed the area. They said “By the grace of God,” what saved their lives was that the grenade did not explode as clearly intended.
Meanwhile, a neighbour told Stabroek News that the house where the incident occurred belonged to David Narine. Narine, early this month, was sentenced to time served after he pleaded guilty to drug trafficking in a US court. Years before, he was held and convicted in St Martin on drug trafficking charges.
Sharma is the son of politician/ television owner CN Sharma while Marcia is the Deputy Head of the Privatisation Unit and daughter of Labour Minister Manzoor Nadir.
Police Commissioner Henry Greene told reporters yesterday that Sharma made a report that around 1:30am he saw what looked like an explosive device in his yard. According to Greene, the ranks made checks and found a “fragmentation grenade” that had not yet exploded. Sharma recounted to ranks that he had heard a sound earlier at around 11:30pm but paid no heed. When he opened his door at 1:30 am, Greene said, Sharma saw the grenade lying in the play area in the yard. Greene said the device is in the custody of the police and is being assessed. He added that no one suspects have yet been identified and Sharma did not see anyone. When asked if investigators had come up with a motive for the incident, he referred the media to Sharma.
“…He does a lot of work in the area of oil, unmarked and marked fuel, so we don’t know if that anything to do with it,” he said.
