Corentyne piracy attack

Third suspect held, first two released

An employee of the woman who was arrested in connection with the piracy attack on fishermen on Saturday evening has now been taken into custody; the woman and a man have been released yesterday evening.

Reports are that the employee was picked out during an identification parade yesterday as one of the persons who robbed the fishermen just off the shore at Number 43 Village, Corentyne.

Chairman of the Berbice Anti-Piracy Committee (BAPC) Pravinchandra Deodat had told Stabroek News that the police assisted them in capturing the pirates’ boat with loot on Sunday morning.

The boat that was robbed belonged to Tommy “Jango” Veerasammy, of the East Coast Demerara. At the time, he and his crew were fishing when the boat with four pirates pulled up alongside and fired a shot in the air.

The pirates then beat the fishermen and ordered them to transfer a large quantity of fish and fish glue, a drum of gasoline, engine and other items into their boat.

The next morning the team from the BAPC decided to patrol the river and along the way in the vicinity of Adventure, spotted a boat with three men acting in a suspicious manner.

As the team approached the boat the men abandoned it and escaped into the bushes.

Deodat said he contacted ‘B’ Division Commander, Stephen Merai and asked for backup and 10 officers from the Whim Police Station were immediately dispatched. The team examined the boat and found items belonging to Veerasammy who was robbed the night before.

The boat was taken to the Number 66 Fish Port Complex while the engine and other items were kept at the Springlands Police Station.

The woman was arrested after she showed up at the complex and claimed that the boat belonged to her and that it had been hijacked in Suriname.

Meanwhile as the boat was being transferred to the station on Tuesday morning the man who was previously arrested was observed looking at what was going on.

As the police approached him he ran away but the police gave chase and captured him.