Investigators in Berbice yesterday after-noon arrested two more persons in connection with the robbery committed on Marcus Brian Bisram on Sunday evening at his Number 70 Village, Corentyne, home and two of his “friends” were said to be involved in the attack.
Commander of Region Six, Senior Superintendent Jairam Ramlakhan, yesterday afternoon confirmed that eight persons were now in custody for questioning.
A source told Stabroek News, that two of the persons in custody are “very good friends” of Bisram with one being a former police officer.
Meanwhile, in a bizarre twist, a video supposedly from one of the alleged bandits made its way onto social media on Monday evening. In the video, the person who is heavily masked and armed with a gun, claims that they only stole $800,000 from Bisram and not $5 million, as was told to the police by Bisram.
Commander Ramlakhan yesterday said that investigators were in receipt of the video after it was posted by a media practitioner. He said the video has been forwarded to the Crime Chief and Deputy Commissioner, and investigators were “reviewing every aspect.”
However, Bisram last evening said that he believes that the persons behind the video are “attention seekers” who are trying to divert attention away from the investigation.
He also strongly refuted their claims. “I think it’s a distraction for some of the persons that have been arrested,” he said.
Bisram, 31, of Number 70 Village, Corentyne, had told Stabroek News that he and a group of his relatives were sitting outside of his house in the yard, when four masked men entered on Sunday evening.
He had said that three of the bandits were armed with a firearm each, while the fourth carried a machete.
“They just came in and say ‘don’t move’ and they relieve everyone of their cellphones first and then they directed us to go into the house, all of us, and then they relieved everyone there of their jewellery,” he had noted.
He had then said that one of the bandits then asked which was Bisram’s room, “I show him and he took me to my room and he asked me for all the jewellery and money which I gave to him because he had the gun on the 2- year-old kid [relative] following me around.”
According to Bisram, while two of the bandits followed him around the other remained guarding his relatives. However, after one of his cousins, 24, began resisting, he was dealt several lashes with the cutlass.
He told this newspaper, that the bandits escaped with $5 million in cash, two gold bangles at 100 pennyweight each, a 100-pennyweight gold chain, one diamond ring worth US$12,000, one IPhone 12, and a wallet with US$2,000 and about seven credit cards.
In addition, the bandits also escaped with seven cellular phones and a quantity of jewellery which they took from his relatives.
