West Berbice robbery/kidnapping....Three in custody

West Berbice robbery/kidnapping….Three in custody

Jan 12, 2012 News

…police hunt two more

The police seem to have cracked the case involving the brutal robbery and kidnapping, with the arrest of three men.
Those arrested allegedly attacked and robbed a Number 22 Bel Air, West Coast Berbice family, then kidnapped a family member whom they later dumped at a lonely spot in Mahaicony after the stolen vehicle apparently ran low on Gas.
But before they released their victim they demanded a $30M ransom from his relatives.
According to information three men were picked up at a location on East Coast Demerara some time Tuesday evening.
A cellular phone, which was stolen from the kidnap victim Wazim Shariff was allegedly found in the possession of one of the men. The other stolen items including a firearm and matching ammunition, cash and jewellery were not recovered. The men are said to be from Cane Grove.
Those arrested have since been positively identified by the robbery and kidnap victims.
The bandits, about five in number, about 10:30 hrs on Tuesday invaded the grocery shop of 65-year-old Albert Subhan who is also a rice farmer. They brutalised his family and robbed them of close to $1M in cash and jewellery, before kidnapping his 33-year-old son-in-law Wazim Shariff.
Shariff had arrived at the home while the robbery was in progress.
Zulika Subhan, 56, had told Kaieteur News that she lives with her husband, her daughter Zameena Subhan, 28, and a 12-year-old grandson, Farad, who is wheelchair bound.
She had stated that the unmasked bandits scaled the back fence and entered the shop through a side door which was open. They bound her daughter, taped her mouth and placed a knife to her throat, before brutalising the family and taking her daughter upstairs where they ransacked two rooms and robbed them of close to $505,000 in cash and $250,000 in jewellery.
The men had attacked her husband who was relaxing in his hammock. He was viciously struck on the head with a gun. Remigrant businessman Wazim Shariff of Number Four village was visiting his in-laws to collect a vehicle. He was pounced upon and beaten, his licenced firearm, a .32 revolver, was taken away and he was bundled into one of the cars on the premises, PNN 871, and taken away.
After he was forced into the car with three bandits, the two that were outside went into another vehicle.
According to Shariff, as the bandits were heading towards Georgetown, the three who were holding him captive were calling on the two in the other vehicle to take the lead so as to inform them if “police (roadblock) were on the road”. However those at the back were unable to catch up with those in front.
The bandits on their way were barefacedly signaling to oncoming vehicles, asking if police were on the road. As fate would have it, the gas ran low and the bandits eventually turned down a lonely road at Drill, Mahaicony, about one mile down a bushy area, where they again beat the hapless man, before stripping him and using his bootlaces and belt to tie his hands and feet together.
They also stripped him of his band, rings, chains and wallet with all his documents and about $8,000 in cash, before leaving him.
According to the victim, the bandits walked out back towards the road, after abandoning the car, pulling out a few wires in the process. All the time they were deciding if they should kill him or give him a chance.
He somehow managed to release himself and walked to the Mahaicony Police station, where he made a report. His wallet was later found about two miles away at Fairfield, Mahaicony.