‘Fine Man Gang’ escapes cordon, hijacks bus

Jun 17, 2008 News

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– robs passengers, releases driver, abandons bus hours later at Unamco

Guyana’s most wanted fugitive, Rondell ‘Fine Man’ Rawlins, and his gang slipped through a heavy Joint Services’ cordon at Christmas Falls to hijack and rob the occupants of a minibus at Aroaima, before forcing the driver to take them to another location.
Hours later, the Joint Services found the bus near the Unamco site in the Upper Berbice River area. The driver was unharmed.
However, Police have since captured one of the suspected gang members at Ituni, Upper Demerara.
Sources say that the man appeared to be on the brink of starvation. He is said to have provided investigators with vital information about the gang. 
In a press release yesterday, the Police said that, acting on information, they arrested a male of African descent at Ituni, Upper Demerara.
“He is alleged to be a member of the notorious Rondel Rawlins, called “Fine Man,” gang which had been intercepted by the Joint Services on Friday June 6 last, at Christmas Falls, Berbice River.”
He is currently in custody and investigations are continuing.
The Police added that, at about 04:30hrs yesterday, a number of armed men stopped a minibus on the Aroaima trail. 
At the time, the vehicle was heading to Linden with several passengers.
After relieving the passengers of their valuables, the gunmen ordered them out of the vehicle, and left with the driver.
Kaieteur News understands that the stranded passengers were eventually rescued by another minibus and taken to Ituni.
When news of the hijacking broke, the Police at Linden professed to know nothing of the incident. One rank, who worked all day, said that he had received no report and could not comment.
In the city, the Police were equally tight-lipped. Late yesterday afternoon, Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee reported that he knew little.
“I know there have been reports of an incident somewhere in the Ituni/Kwakwani area. All the circumstances surrounding the incident are now being investigated.
“What I do know is that there was an incident involving a minibus and certain persons.”
Asked to comment on the arrest of a gang member, Minister Rohee said, “That I am yet to learn. I heard that Police have taken some action. I am yet to learn the full details.”
The passengers were questioned by the Police at Ituni, and later transported to Linden. Yesterday’s brazen attack was a blow to Government and security officials, who had repeatedly expressed confidence that Rawlins and his gang were trapped in dense jungle terrain in the Upper Demerara/Berbice area,  and would either be captured or killed.    
Minister Rohee had expressed cautious optimism about the men being caught. At the same time, the Police were informing the nation that the men were heading further into the jungle and that they were doomed.
The Joint Services also informed the nation that it had established a security cordon through which the men could not pass.
It announced that the Corentyne River, which separates Guyana from Suriname, was being tightly manned to prevent any escape through that route, while Surinamese officials have been placed on alert.
Subsequently, there were reports that two of the gunmen had been spotted and that they appeared to be ill.
The army’s two surveillance helicopters are also being used in the hunt for the gunmen. No official could say where the helicopters were during yesterday’s operations, although one individual said that the helicopters were airborne.
The Joint Services had appeared to be closing in on the elusive gang after locating their hideout some 300 miles up the Berbice River.
Twenty-one-year-old Otis Fiffee, called Mud Up, was killed, while it is alleged that about five others fled the camp.
It is alleged that one of the fleeing men was identified as wanted man Rondell Rawlins, called ‘Fine Man’.
They also stated that those who escaped with Rawlins included Richard Ramcharran, called ‘Uncle Willie,’ along with ‘Magic,’ and ‘Chung Boy’.
The ranks recovered three FN rifles, four shotguns, and a .32 revolver; two AK-47 magazines, seven FN rifle magazines, and several rounds of ammunition from the gunmen’s well-stocked hideout.
According to a statement, the three FN rifles were stolen from the Bartica Police Station during the armed attack on that community on February 17, 2008.
The .32 revolver and two of the shotguns were stolen from the home of Bartica miner Chunilall Babulall.
The Joint Services ranks were said to have also found a diary which provided “incontrovertible evidence” of Rawlins’s planning and execution of the killings at Lusignan and Bartica.
The initial operation was conducted by the Police, who say that they did not seek the help of the Guyana Defence Force for fear of compromising the operation.
When the handful of ranks swooped down on the camp, they could only cover two of the escape routes. The gunmen fled using the exposed avenues and disappeared.
The Police later left the camp unattended, and hours later the Joint Services patrol returned to the camp.
There were reports that the raiding party had found a quantity of cash and that this pre-occupied their efforts so they declined to chase after the fleeing gunmen.
The hunt for the gunmen has now shifted away from the dense jungle.
In the past the Joint Services was quick to host press conferences to brief the media on developments. This time there has been no media briefing, hence the speculative reports that flowed this past week.

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