“Well dressed” bandits strike Montrose family again

Sep 12, 2013 News

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By Javone Vickerie
Six months after bandits attempted to enter the home of East Coast Demerara taxi service owner, Babita Narine, three men on Tuesday night carted off more than $500,000 in cash and jewellery leaving an entire family traumatized.
According to the police, about 20:15hrs three men, one of whom was armed with a firearm, invaded Shamo’s Taxi Service located at Montrose, Railway Embankment, East Coast Demerara.
The police further stated that the gunmen then held up two taxi-drivers and the two daughters of the business owner and escaped with over $500,000, a quantity of jewellery and three cell phones.

Neighbours alerted ranks who responded promptly. “Upon arrival at the scene the police were informed that the perpetrators were still in the building and holding one of the women hostages.
The police proceeded to tactically cordon and enter the building, but found that the men had already fled the scene,” the release stated.
Yesterday, a still visibly shaken Babita Narine told Kaieteur News that she and husband were not at home at the time of robbery. “We went to buy gas at Guyoil on Sheriff Street because we had a long line of cars this week at the gas station and meh lef home meh two daughters with the driver them,” Narine said.
Narine said that her eldest daughter was left in the taxi service performing the duties of a dispatcher. Narine said that while returning home with her husband they received a frantic call from one of the taxi drivers.
“The man call me husband and tell he that bandit in the house with we two girls dem and he nah see the other two drivers in the yard, just the car them park outside,” the woman said.
She added that the taxi driver then ran out to the road, trying to alert other motorist that bandits were holding five persons hostage within the house.
Narine said that when she and husband arrived at the home, scores of persons including police officers were gathered outside of the home.
Narine explained that as she watched the entire ordeal, she prayed for the safe return of her daughters and driver who were held captive by the bandits.
One of the daughters who hid said, “I was outside sitting in the sofa and I saw one of the men enter the yard with a gun first and walk straight up to one of the drivers who sitting under the house. I realize that something wasn’t right”, the young woman said.
The young woman said that more men came into the yard and she became scared after the intruders became aggressive with the taxi drivers. “They turn and tell we shut up and go inside and they put them on the ground to lie down so I ran and hide before they could see me,” the shaken woman said.
According to the victim she became more scared after one of the bandits said, “Wheh she deh? Y’all find she and bring she.” But she remained in her dark corner praying not to be found.
She said that while one of the bandits monitored the hostages on the bottom flat, the other two found their way upstairs, ransacked the bedrooms and collected jewelry, cash and three cellular phones.
During the 30-minute ordeal, the other sister who was upstairs was then brought down by one of the armed men with a gun to her head, before she was joined by the others on the living room floor.
“I heard a car approaching so I thought it was my dad and then I started to scream for help telling them that they got bandits in the house and then I overheard the men saying that she still inside and they were going to look for me,” the woman said.
She said that at that moment she became confused after thinking what could have happened to her if the men would have discovered her in the hiding place. Luckily, the woman said that police officers then swarmed the house looking for bandits.
She said that after the police came in the yard the men then ran upstairs and escaped from upstairs. She however told this publication that the three men were well dressed. They were not masked but all wore toques on their heads.
Meanwhile, Narine believed that the men ran up the stairs and escaped through a slide, before walking on the roof and exiting by way of the back alley.
Narine also explained that this was not the first time that bandits invaded her home. “We had a wedding on March 2 and some men came in and tried to go inside but we were not sleeping so they didn’t get to take anything and they escaped,” Narine said.
Apart from the cash and jewelry, $180,000 was stolen from one of the daughters who is a Secretary at the Better Hope Mandir youth group. The cash belonged to the said youth group.
Narine said that since the last robbery security has not been a major issue.
“This is a taxi service and people always walking in and out of the yard. I never expected this to happen again,” Narine said.
Contrary to reports carried in the media the police in a statement said that it did not discharge any warning shots nor was there any exchange of gunfire with the perpetrators.
The men still remain on the run while investigations are in progress.

 

 

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