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Thieves eat, drink, smoke, relax then steal $5M in cash, jewellery
…while owner sports at wedding house
A West Bank Demerara family is counting its losses after brazen burglars broke into the home Sunday evening, and escaped with almost $5M in cash and jewels.
The burglars took time out to smoke, eat and even took rum from the home of businessman/jeweler Seeram “Rakesh” Phulchand of 109 La Parfait Harmony, West Bank Demerara.
Businessman/jeweler Seeram “Rakesh” Phulchand, contemplates his loss.
The burglars, who damaged the metal front door and a window in their initial attempts to enter the home, are believed to have then used a pick-ax to break their way through a back door.
The entire home was ransacked in what the family now believes is a well-orchestrated plan.
According to Phulchand, he is a jeweler plying his trade at markets along the East Coast of Demerara. The family of four also operates a grocery at the home.
“We went to a wedding yesterday (Sunday) and left home around 4:30 (16:30hrs).”
According to Phulchand, they returned home around 22:30 hrs.
On entering the yard, his wife, Reshma, immediately noticed something strange about the front door. Their worst fears were confirmed. The metal door which had several locks was badly damaged but was still closed.
A window next to that door was broken but the grill was still intact.
“They could not get in through the front door because it was locked. The bolts for the grill were also bent so they could not enter through the window,” the businessman disclosed.
The family on investigating found the back door open. The persons had used a pick-ax to force the door open and had opened the unlocked grill door. In the home, the shocked family discovered the downstairs in a mess.
A large, flat-screen television and home-theatre set were still there but a laptop was gone. A storage space under the step was open and it is believed that several bottles of rum were taken.
Upstairs, the burglars were brazen. The lights were on and the curtains were stuck into the windows to allow for breeze.
“They tek they own time,” the businessman said.
In the master bedroom, the drawers were strewn on the bed and their contents on the floor.
There was a strange cigarette butt on the carpet.
Thieves were unable to break open this metal door and instead used a pick-ax to force open the back door.
“They take about $4M in jewelry belonging to the family and clients. This is all meh business gone. I now have to ask all meh customers to bear up. I don’t know where to start back from,” a frustrated Phulchand complained.
His wife also discovered around $700,000 in local and foreign currency missing.
“They also tek my passport with my US visas in it. They left the passport case,” the businessman’s wife said.
The family believes that they were being watched.
There were footprints leading to the back fence which suggested the burglars used that route to escape.
“I apply for a gun licence a few years ago and they turn me down. They rob me brother some time back in Vreed-en-Hoop. They wait for him and take away his bag.”
Phulchand also called for Government to address the issue of the empty lands and unfinished buildings in the areas since these potentially could serve as a perfect hideout for robbers.
La Parfait Harmonie is one of the biggest housing schemes in Guyana but sections of it have become notorious for many reported incidents of theft, especially of building materials.
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