Following Tuesday evening’s robbery at a Corentyne supermarket, police have arrested three persons for questioning, including one who was at the supermarket as a customer at the time of the robbery.
Two of the suspects who were arrested
At about 19:30h on Tuesday, armed bandits attacked and robbed the Golden Spring Supermarket at Number 66 Village, Corentyne. Several customers who were there were also robbed; and the bandits escaped with a customer’s vehicle, which was later found abandoned.
Reports are that four masked men who entered the supermarket opened fire and robbed customers and the cashier.
According to the victims, while they were shopping, four masked men, wearing hoodies and long clothing, entered the supermarket brandishing firearms. They then ordered everyone present to lie face-down on the floor, and fired several shots in the air during the process.
Region Six Police Commander, Assistant Commissioner Shivpersaud Bacchus, said the police received a call from the proprietor of this supermarket, Zhigang Hu, a 38-year-old Guyanese of Chinese descent, that there was a robbery in progress.
The commander said it took the police between 10 to 15 minutes to respond, and when they arrived, they discovered that several persons, along with the owner, were robbed of cash, jewellery, and other valuables, and one person had been robbed of a motor car.
Car wash operator Shavnarine Richards was robbed and taken into the supermarket by the bandits
“To be exact, it was seven adults, both males and females, who were robbed at that location of an undisclosed amount of cash and jewellery,” the Police Commander said.
He noted that some of the victims were shoppers, while others were accompanying persons in the supermarket.
According to Bacchus, intelligence led to the recovery of the vehicle, which was left abandoned at Number 68 Village.
“At this time, we are continuing our investigation actively on the ground, and we are hoping to find some sort of evidence so that justice can be done in regards to the incident at the supermarket,” Bacchus assured.
Meanwhile, Haresh Persaud, who uses a crutch to move about, claimed it was his car that was stolen. He said he had purchased it three months ago to aid him in moving around, after being involved in an accident which injured one of his legs.
“I went to the wash bay to wash my car, and my cousin brought me back to collect it. When I collected the car, the boy that running the car wash asked me to give him a spin to buy a bag of ice. So, we went to Number 71 supermarket and it did not have ice. So, we went to the Number 66 supermarket. When we drive in, four gunmen approached us and they searched us,” Persaud detailed. “…and [they] took away everything we had” he added.
“They tried to pull out my car key, but the car was in ‘N’, so the key couldn’t come out. If it was in park, then the key could have come out. After they couldn’t get out the key, they beat us up a little and put us to lay down in the car. They put one man with a gun to watch me and my friend, and the three of them gone in the supermarket. When they finished doing what they had to do and fire some shots, then they came back out and throw me out of my car and gone with my car,” he recounted.
Haresh Persaud, who was thrown out of his car after he was robbed
Persaud has said he is of the opinion that the men were waiting for someone with a vehicle to drive into the parking lot before making their move, having secured a getaway vehicle.
Shavnarine Richards, who operates a car wash at Number 68 Village, was in the car with Persaud. He said that, after being robbed, he was then taken into the supermarket and put to lie down.
“One of them told us to lie down flat in the car; to push back the seat and lie flat on the seat. A little after, one of them come back and say let us go in the supermarket, and I tell them that my partner can’t walk, his foot break. So, they say let me alone go in. When I go in, they tell me to lie down flat on the ground. Well, before that, they already take everything I had, a phone and yesterday [Monday] money that I worked for – about $35,000 out of my pocket, and then they carry me inside the Chinese supermarket to lie down. And all I hear is his gunshots.”
Richards said there were between 12 and 15 persons in the supermarket when he was taken into the building. He said that while he was there, he heard about four or five gunshots.
The police are continuing their investigations.
