Armed bandits cart off $1.8M in cash, jewellery during Lima Sands home invasion

– businessman, wife beaten; neighbour shot

By: Raywattie Deonarine

Four armed bandits on Sunday evening invaded the home of a Lima Sands, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) businessman and carted off with over $1.8 million in cash and jewellery but not before assaulting the man and his wife.
In addition, a neighbour was shot as the men discharged two wounds in his direction as they made their way out of the businessman’s premises.
The businessman, Seunarine Terbani, also known as ‘Heighty’ told the Guyana Times that he was in a bond in his yard at about 19:30h when two men, both armed with handguns confronted him and started to demand cash and jewellery.
“The men attacked my wife when I was in the storeroom and she ran to me. I had two cases of beer in my hand and tried to fight the man. They had guns, so I put down the beer.”

He further explained that he told the men who were also masked to leave his wife alone and deal with him instead. The bandits then took him upstairs and struck him multiple times on the head with a gun.
“When I reached upstairs, they hit me on the head, which burst open. I fell, and they started kicking me, asking where all the money was. I told them where the money was and said that it was all I had.”

After collecting the money, the men ransacked the bedrooms and cabinets where they found a quantity of jewellery.
The still traumatised spouse, Melissa Thomas recalled that she was at the counter in the shop which is in the lower flat of the house counting money when the men confronted her brandishing a gun.
“My son was packing the freezer, and I was counting the money when the men ran towards me and pointed the gun at me. I threw all the money in the air and ran into the storeroom with my husband. The bandits started searching for money and then took him upstairs.”

She noted that her daughter was upstairs, and upon seeing the men, she jumped off the veranda, landing on the ground in the yard resulting in her sustaining a sprained leg.
Meanwhile, a neighbour, Hemraj Totaram, also known as “PR,” who was on the road saw the men running out of the businessman’s property and shouted at them. In retaliation, the men discharged two rounds in his direction with one hitting him to his abdomen and exiting.
“When I saw the men running out, I shouted at them, and they fired two shots while running. One of the bullets hit me in the lower abdomen and passed through. All I saw was blood, and people rushed me to Suddie Hospital,” the injured man stated.
The businessman and his daughter were also treated at the hospital. The police are investigating the robbery, but no arrests were made up press time.