Bandits strike twice at Eccles

An Eccles man is upset after bandits raided the apartment of one of his tenants, just days after he himself was held up in the area.

The burglary occurred just before midnight on Sunday at an apartment building, located at Young Professionals Housing Scheme, Eccles, East Bank Demerara, belonging to Balram Shiopersaud.

Shiopersaud recalled receiving a telephone call just before midnight on Sunday from one of his tenants, Judy (only name given), informing him that bandits had entered her apartment by making a hole in the walls.

He said based on what he was informed, Judy left the apartment around 8 pm Sunday for an outing and returned home around 11.30 pm, when she made the discovery.

The apartment was ransacked and valuables, including her laptop and cellular phone, were missing. He said he immediately alerted the police who took a while to respond.

According to Shiopersaud, the ranks also promised to return yesterday afternoon to take fingerprints but did not turn up. He accused the police of poor investigations and expressed frustration at the attack, which came just days after he himself was robbed.

On August 29, Shiopersaud was robbed at gunpoint as he was about to enter his premises.

At around 11.30am, Shiopersaud said, he had returned home for lunch when he and another villager were held at gunpoint and robbed.

The bandits also demanded that he allow them entrance into his house, from where they took a quantity of valuables.

“My neighbour saw the four guys jumping over a fence behind my house and he reverse his vehicle but before he could have wind down the window to tell me one of the men appear next to he and place a gun to he and another did the same to me,” Shiopersaud said. He said the men demanded that he take them into his premises. He complied and was forced to allow his mother to open to door of the house out of fear for his life.

While there, the gunmen ordered both Shiopersaud and his mother to lay on the floor while they ransacked the house. They carted off a quantity of items, including a television set, cameras and five cellular phones.