Military-clad gang terrorises Meten-Meer-Zorg family

May 30, 2011 News

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– escape in boat with over $8M

By Latoya Giles

Six heavily armed gunmen dressed in military clothing robbed and terrorised a Meten-Meer-Zorg West Coast Demerara, business family on Saturday night before escaping with just over $8M cash and jewellery.
The family’s grocery store, which is located at Lot 52 Meten-Meer-Zorg is owned and operated by Indranie Bisram called “Annie” and her husband Deonaugth Judistry.
When this newspaper visited the scene yesterday morning, the family was still in a state of shock from their ordeal.
Several relatives were seen comforting the businesswoman and her ten-year-old daughter.
Speaking with Kaieteur News, Indranie Bisram said that it was around 20:00hrs on Saturday when the bandits struck.
Bisram explained that the grocery store normally closes at 19:30hrs, but the family was waiting on a driver to park the vehicle in the yard before they closed the business.
“We does normally close at 7:30 pm, …but by the car didn’t come home yet meh husband seh leh we wait and make one close up,” the woman told Kaieteur News.
According to the woman, her husband was sitting outside in the shop when the gunmen walked in and jumped onto a counter.
“My husband was sitting outside when the men in army clothes came and jumped on the counter…..they all had big guns, it looked like the AK 47s” Bisram said.
Three of the men managed to get inside of the shop and forced Bisram’s nephew, along with another employee, to lie on the floor. Two were in the yard with some customers, while the third was outside in the middle of the road as a lookout.

Present in the store was the couple’s 10-year-old daughter, who quickly fled to the upper flat of the building.
The armed men proceeded to strip the businesswoman of jewellery she was wearing at the time.
They then emptied a drawer containing an estimated $100,000.
“The drawer was locked and the key was right next to it…but I was so nervous I didn’t see it…so they lashed open the drawer”.
She further told Kaieteur News that all five of the family’s cell phones were in the store charging and the bandits managed to get the phones, worth over $100,000.
“All de cell phones are expensive…I thought they didn’t get it because the paper was covering it…is only after I went looking for it to call the police I realise that it gone,” Bisram said.
Moving through the store the bandits stumbled across a cheque book and a number of cheques. The value of the cheques is still to be determined.
After collecting the cheques the men then headed to another drawer where the family also kept money.
“After I see they tek de cheques them I thought they finish…but they started walking through de house and went to the back drawer and took out the money” the woman said.
Kaieteur News was told that men operated as though they knew where everything was, which surprised the businesswoman. This newspaper was told that the bandits found $US 11,621 and a quantity of Guyana currency which was not counted from that drawer.
After removing the last set of money from the store downstairs the three bandits then pushed Bisram upstairs to her bedroom.
The men ransacked the bedroom and removed a quantity of gold jewellery among other valuables in the room.
However, the bandits still felt that the family had more and continued demanding that Bisram hand over more cash and jewellery. She estimated that the bandits managed to get away with over $2M in jewellery.
“They done collect the gold and money and still saying they want more and they gonna kill me if I aint give them more” the woman cried.
At this point the woman’s 10 year old daughter jumped in front of her mother and began begging the bandits not to kill her.
“Meh daughter jumped in front of me and seh yall don’t kill meh mother….then one of them took the gun and started lashing meh child in she head and face,” the mother cried.
The young child was treated at the Cottage Hospital, and presently she cannot eat or swallow because of the injuries she received.
The mother also received two gaping wounds to the head after she was beaten in the head.
Businessman Deonaugth Judistry said he had to pretend that he was  a customer and scaled a neighbour’s fence in a bid to escape from the gunmen.
According to Judistry, he was sitting outside of the store waiting for the driver to come when he saw the six men approaching.
He was positive that the men were wearing military clothes and they came from the direction of the sea dam.
As the men entered his business place and ran towards the counter, Judistry said he realised that they were being attacked.
“After I see is bandits I tell them I just come fuh buy flour fuh mek roti, then I run and jump over de fence,” the businessman said.
Judistry, who is a licensed fire arm holder, said he managed to fire three shots at the men. This then caused the bandits to respond with rapid gunfire in his direction.
He estimated that the men spent approximately 20 minutes inside the store terrorising his family.
Judistry also said that the police managed to recover a military-style hat, which was left at the scene.
Several neighbours who spoke to this publication yesterday recalled hearing rapid gunfire, and threats to stay inside.
One neighbour who spoke to this newspaper said it was around 20:00hrs when she heard the gunfire erupt.
According to the woman, she and her daughter immediately turned off their lights and hid under a bed.
“After I hear de gunfire I collect meh child and turn off all de lights and catch de bed cause I didn’t know where de bandits were  and I didn’t taking chances” the woman recalled.

Kaieteur News was told by the neighbour that she called the police from her cell phone to report the matter, but the 911 kept ringing out.
Another neighbour recalled that it was her children who ran inside telling her that they had seen six men in military clothing with guns heading to the store.
“Meh children run inside and tell me but I tell them they too lie and went about my business,” the woman said.
The woman said it was only after she heard the gunfire erupt that she realised that something was terribly wrong.
A call was immediately made to the police about a robbery being in process, but according to her the police arrived almost two hours later.
“Even after Annie go to the hospital the police didn’t come….they tek long fa come, ” the neighbour stated.
One other neighbour said that she was standing on a bridge with her brother talking when she saw the men come from the sea dam with a boat. The woman said she noticed the men wearing military clothes.
According to the woman, her brother thought the men were hunters, and even asked them if they were selling wild meat.
“We aint think that it was bandits ….so he asked them if they got wild duck fa sell and they turn around and watched him strong…” the woman explained.
Seconds after the woman said she saw people running from the shop saying that bandits were inside.
She immediately told her brother to go home and she went inside to hide. “ I hear plenty shots fire off….they tell one man don’t look before they shoot up he house,” the woman recalled. This neighbour also said that the police arrived some time after the incident had happened.
Meanwhile, this newspaper understands that the bandits arrived by boat after holding a koker worker hostage.
According to police sources, the men went to the Meten- Meer-Zorg Koker and got a boat. They then proceeded down the sea dam and came out at bridge which runs parallel to the street the grocery store is in.
The couple has operated the grocery store from the Meten-Meer-Zorg location for the past 12 years.
This was the first time that they were ever robbed.

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