On Saturday evening, three bandits armed with guns and machetes pounced on a young couple in Port Mourant, Corentyne, robbing them of over half a million dollars in cash and jewellery.
Police have since arrested four persons and seized a black hire car which was seen in the area earlier in the day.
Pawan Narinesammy, 22, also known as ‘Akash’, of Lot 8 Public Road, North Haswell, Port Mourant, recounted that on Saturday evening, he and his wife returned home from a religious function at around 9:30 when they noticed a strange black hire car parked next to their home. “We stop and drive in and lock back we gate and then we open the door and go inside and then I go pull in the grill when one bandit approach me with a gun and say ‘don’t scream’,” he recalled.
“He tried to pull the grill and I push he to try close it but then two more of them run come from back here and push me straight to the floor,” he said.
Narinesammy further related that two of the men stood guard over him while one went to his wife, who started to scream but stopped after the bandit threatened to chop her in the head. The bandit then took the woman, 21, to a room and demanded that she hand over cash and jewellery.
According to Narinesammy, one of the perpetrators began to beat him with the gun but was ordered to stop by the other. “The one hit me in my head and the next one with the gun tell he ‘don’t hit, don’t hit he, we ain’t come fa do them nothing. We just want the money and the gold’ and he say turn on me belly,” he recounted.
The man said that the bandits then searched him, removed his phone and asked for the password for it. The bandits also requested the password to his wife’s phone before leaving. “He pull me chain and me married ring off and drag me and carry me in the room with her [his wife],” he recalled.
The bandits then repeated their demand for cash and jewellery.
Narinesammy said that the bandits ordered him and his wife to remain in the room while they escaped. “Them keep asking how to lock the door, how them want lock we in and left we but we tell them the room door na get lock from outside,” he related.
The bandits carted off over $600,000 in jewellery, $30,000 in cash and four cellphones.
Narinesammy sustained injuries to his head and ribs.
During the robbery, the bandits asked Narinesammy’s wife if she could see his face “and he look in the dresser mirror and fix the mask and then start ask me where all the money.”
The woman related that while in the bedroom after she handed over her savings cup, the bandit said to her, “This is wah? We come for all the money. This is nothing.”
Meanwhile, according to information gathered, the black car was spotted in the area earlier in the night and was also seen trailing Narinesammy when he was on his way to pick up his wife and when he dropped off her sister.
Stabroek News was told that four persons including a female have since been arrested after the black car was found shortly after the robbery in a nearby area. The four occupants were taken into custody for questioning and one has since been identified by the couple.
One of the suspects was involved in a crash on Wednesday evening on the Corentyne, this newspaper was told. He was reportedly extremely intoxicated and slammed into the back of a lawman’s private car.
He was pursued but escaped through a street just before crashing into a fence. Residents of the area said that there were three persons in the car including a female and all were extremely intoxicated. After the crash, the driver and occupants of the car escaped on foot.
The owner of the car was then contacted and identified who was operating his car at the time. The police had launched a search but were only able to arrest the suspect on Saturday evening after the robbery.
Meanwhile, yesterday, the couple, who got married in April, said that they don’t feel safe living in the area now. Narinesammy said, “We are just a young couple, recently got married and we trying to build life little-by-little we never expect this to happen.”
