Piari Landing attack…Bodies of bandit, hostage fished out of river

Oct 05, 2011 News

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– three suspects captured

An intensive operation by members of the Guyana Police Force has led to the capture of three suspects in last Sunday’s three-hour robbery blitz at Piari Landing in the Puruni River.
The police also recovered the bodies of two men – one of whom is believed to be a member of the gang that raided the location and another who is said to have been a hostage taken by the escaping bandits.
“One is that of a suspect, while the other is that of a man wearing a Rastafarian hairstyle who was taken hostage by the perpetrators to drive the getaway boat. Information received revealed that while the boat was travelling along the Mazaruni River it overturned and several persons may have drowned. No sign was seen of the boat that was stolen by the armed men,” a police statement said.
The police press release yesterday said that acting on accurate and precise information, a team of police ranks went into another area in the Mazaruni where they arrested three suspects and recovered an Uzi submachine gun and a handgun.
Ranks are still in the area pursuing the other suspects who are believed to be holed up on an island.
Another man who is suspected of having transported the armed men to the Piari Landing had been earlier arrested at Piari and taken into custody.

On Sunday night, a gang of gunmen stormed the Piari Landing, Puruni, firing shots indiscriminately and wounding three persons in the process.
According to reports, as the armed men approached, a number of shop owners and other persons fled into the bushes. However, eight persons were robbed of cash, raw gold and jewellery, three of whom were shot and injured.
Brazilian shopkeeper Joao De Freitas  Mattos was shot to his right leg and robbed of $60,000 and was admitted at the Bartica Hospital, while his countryman, another shopkeeper Benedito Docerado Oliveira, 56, was shot to his right hip and robbed of half million dollars and a quantity of raw gold, and was also treated at the Bartica Hospital.
Another Brazilian, Francisco Da Cruz Morias, 44, was shot to his right thigh and left foot and robbed of $140,000. He too received treatment at the Bartica Hospital, as did 56-year-old Joao Da Conceicao, who was also robbed of $30,000.
Brazilian Mario Odessa Da Silva was robbed of jewellery and half million dollars, while Curtis Bannette, 34, was relieved of $110,000 and a cell phone.
David Coates and Carlton Small, who were beaten about the body, were treated at the Bartica Hospital and sent away.
According to the police, two men who claimed that they were abducted and held hostage by the armed men as they were escaping have been found by the police and are assisting with the investigations.
Kaieteur News understands that the gunmen, some of whom were clad in military fatigues kidnapped three men, including one of the men whose bodies was found.
The two men who are assisting with the investigations told detectives that they refused to captain the boat and somewhere along the journey they jumped out and swam to safety.
The gunmen then tied up the third man and ordered him to captain the boat through the many rapids and mini falls.
As the boat was going down one of the falls, the captain lost control and everyone was hurled into the treacherous river.
The man who was tied up was unable to free himself and drowned along with one of the gunmen. The others reportedly managed to make it to a nearby island.
Kaieteur News understands that the police surrounded the island and according to reports began shooting into the air, forcing two of the gunmen to surrender, while the rest fled into the bushes.
Barticians were loud in their praise for the police when some of the ranks returned there after the operation which has been described as highly successful so far.
“There is no way off the island and the gunmen have no means of communicating….in addition, boat captains and well as boat owners in most of the areas have been alerted of the operation, so there is no likelihood of another boat stopping to assist the men who are trapped on the island,” a source in Bartica told Kaieteur News.
As the two gunmen who were captured were being escorted to the Bartica Police Station, a large crowd chased after the police vehicle in anger, forcing the police to resort to shielding them, as many residents tried to grab the men.
One of the captured suspects has reportedly confessed to being a part of the gang, confirming that there were eight of them, headed by a notorious criminal suspect, whom he named.
He claimed that all the stolen loot went down in the river when the boat capsized.
The suspect said that he managed to survive the mishap by clinging unto a rock until he was captured by the police ranks His information was reportedly confirmed by one of the two hostages who had escaped earlier.
Another suspect was reportedly caught and tied up by some fishermen and subsequently handed over to the police.
Meanwhile, late last night police confirmed that they had recovered the boat ‘Cool Confidence’ at the foot of ‘Looking Glass Falls’.

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