Bandits torch way into hardware store, escape with safe
As crime continues to spiral out of control, bandits in the wee hours of Wednesday morning torched their way into Hardware Emporium General Store and carted off a safe containing an undisclosed sum of cash.
The hole that the men cut to gain access to the building
The men reportedly gained access to the Church Street, Georgetown premises by scaling a fence which separates Guyana Telephone and Telegraph (GTT) company and Hardware Emporium General Store, after which they torched a square opening in the metal gate.
According to reports, they then made their way into the building but not before locking the door to the living quarters of the caretaker from the outside. The bandits also cut the main power supply to the building which ultimately shuts down the security system and cameras.
The Hardware Emporium located at Church Street
When Guyana Times visited the location on Wednesday morning, detectives were taking statements from employees and the caretaker of the entity. A supervisor, Errol (only name given) told Guyana Times that when he arrived at the location at about 07:55h, he saw a trolley in front of the building and thought something was amiss since only him and another employee had keys to the building.
“It is only me and another employee have keys… and we have to open the door simultaneously… so when I saw the trolley, I know something wrong,” he iterated. However, by this time, the Police had arrived, leaving the man no other assumption other than the business was burglarised.
“We get information from the people at the Bank that they saw movements in the place but by the time they come over, the bandits had already left.” He said a number of items were removed from the office but was not at liberty to disclose such, since his employer was not available at the time this newspaper visited the scene.
The power cable to the building the bandits cut
He is also of the belief that the office was the intended target for the bandits. In addition, he noted that the elderly caretaker had to break the bottom of the door to get out of his dwelling quarters since the door was locked from the outside.
Balwant Bhaichandeen, a brother of the business owner told Guyana Times that he received a telephone call from a Police Officer at about 07:35h and enquired if he was related to the owner of the store and after he responded in the affirmative, he was told that the business had been robbed.
He immediately sent two employees over and arrived at the scene himself a little later. Bhaichandeen was told that a safe that was in his brother’s office was removed and the area ransacked. “I was also told that the bandits torched a hole into the metal gate to gain access to the building,” he noted. He could not say with certainty what was in the safe but was almost sure it would have contained money.
He also thinks that it is quite unusual that days after a new security system was installed, the place was burglarised. This is the first time the business was broken into since its 15 years in existence.
The Police have dusted the area for fingerprints as they continue their investigations. No arrests have been made in connection with the robbery.
