Bandits steal safe with $600,000 from Melanie NIS office

The NIS Melanie Damishana, ECD office where the incident took place.
The NIS Melanie Damishana, ECD office where the incident took place.

Bandits early yesterday morning broke into the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) Melanie Damishana, East Coast Demerara office and carted off a metal safe containing $600,000 cash.

Police spokesman Jairam Ramlakhan yesterday confirmed the incident which occurred around 1.30am.

He said that the police are making stringent efforts to apprehend the three suspects.

However, a source said that the security guards were being questioned by the police.

The police in a press statement yesterday said that the suspects allegedly first pounced on the two female security guards on duty who they relieved of a service revolver with six rounds and one cellular phone.

“The perpetrators then reportedly took the guards to the back of the building, bound their hands and feet and returned only the weapon to them”, the statement added.

While it remains unclear how the suspects gained entry to the building, Stabroek News understands that they took the guards to the back of the building, where they disarmed them, removed the rounds and later returned an empty revolver.

When Stabroek News visited the scene yesterday, the main entrance to the premises was tightly secured and heavily armed guards were on duty.