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Two in custody for robbing and disarming GuySuCo security guard
– police shoot innocent squatters while leading search party
A group of squatters at the Success area
Kaieteur News – Two persons are now in police custody for allegedly robbing and disarming a security officer of the Guyana Sugar Corporation Incorporated (GuySuCo) who was placed in charge of an irrigation pump currently being used to disperse water to flood the Success squatting area on the East Coast of Demerara (ECD).
Police sources told Kaieteur News that around 15:30hrs on Thursday afternoon, while guarding the pump located in the Success backdam, the two suspects allegedly attacked the GuySuCo guard with a cutlass, relieving him of his cell phone, all of his money and the shotgun he was armed with.
Police reports state that the guard said the men hurled him to the ground and placed the cutlass to his neck while threatening him. Upon taking the gun, they also took the extra ammunition, which he was carrying in his pockets. Following the attack, the suspects then took the gun and discharged rounds at the drainage pump, leaving it with severe damage. They then made their escape on a motorcycle.
The police were immediately contacted and soon flocked the scene, which led to a search party being carried out to find the suspects. It was stated that after a long sweep of the area, the two men were caught and detained by police late Thursday night. According to the police, the two suspects were found to be residents within the Success squatter settlement currently being flooded.
Additionally, other reports surfaced stating that police ranks while on their search for the suspects shot a number of squatters in the area with rubber pellets. A live footage video on social media shows a few residents showing their injuries.
In the footage, one of the residents claimed that there was no need for anyone to be shot because there was no disruption of peace. A 15-year-old boy said that he and others were standing nearby and the police ranks fired rubber pellets at them then started chasing behind another group of persons, firing at them too. The teen could be seen showing a bruise on his back.
Another woman shared that she received lacerations to her hands and leg, and claimed that an elderly woman who she knew was rushed to the hospital after being shot multiple times. Other residents stated that they had to run to secure themselves and their children, describing the action as inhumane.
The authorities, for several weeks, have been trying to get all of the squatters to vacate the lands, since they belong to GuySuCo and the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL). GuySuCo also maintained that the lands are being used to plant new cane species in light of plans to reopen the Enmore and La Bonne Intention estates, also claiming that the squatters’ occupation of the lands caused them to lose about 17 years of research work worth $2 billion since they burnt the fields to clear land and erect their structures.
Claims are being made that the robbery and destruction of the irrigation pump were to halt the flooding of the settlements; many squatters have insisted that they will not be moving under any circumstances except if relocation is being offered by the government.
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