Corentyne residents fearful of attacks by armed men

A spate of home invasions on the Corentyne has left some residents living in fear as to when the armed men would strike again. Over the past days, several home were broken into and families terrorised by the armed bandits who demanded cash and jewellery.
In addition to the robberies, villagers are receiving death threats after they were able to see the face of at least one of the men who carried out the attacks. One man told Guyana Times that the bandits have been on the rampage in the Villages of Bush Lot, Nurney and Friendship – all on the Corentyne coast.
One man died after he was shot in his Bush Lot home after bandits invaded and demanded money. The man died days after the shooting but to date, no arrests were made by the Police.
Residents have expressed fear after three masked armed men turned up at their homes. At a popular bar at Bush Lot, bandits broke in and terrorised the family after which they escaped with cash and jewellery.
Three weeks ago, three men removed five louver panes from a bedroom window of a house at Friendship. After gaining entry into the house, they held the owner at gunpoint and moved into a bedroom where they demanded the female occupant to hand over the cash and jewellery.
The men, who were all masked, reportedly left after they collected $400,000 in cash and a further $200,000 worth in jewellery.
Residents at Nurney have also reported that they were attempts to break into homes kin the community within the past two weeks.
Last Thursday, a pensioner got up to use the washroom at about 02:00h and reportedly saw a hand coming from the roof of his house.
The bandits had ripped open the roof to gain entry to the one flat concrete house. According to the pensioner, he was bound after which the men asked for the money from the rice he recently reaped.
The man said he was beaten and a piece of cloth was stuffed into his mouth making it impossible for him to raise an alarm. The bandits took the $4000 he had in his home at the time.
After some time, they dragged him onto the street and lifted him over his neighbours fence and told him to call out the neighbour.
When the neighbour was called out, one of the men stood by the door but the neighbour who is a rice framer peeped through a window and called the Police.
Meanwhile, as the men went to another neighbour who is a cash crop farmer, he was able to injure one of the bandits with a cutlass.
The injured man repeatedly ordered his colleague carrying the firearm to shoot the farmer and in complying, he discharged a round in his direction. The Police arrived and heard two other gunshots a short distance away.
There are reports that following that incident, the neighbour who was shot was receiving death threats.
Divisional Commander, Assistant Commissioner Clifton Hicken told Guyana Times that several persons are in custody assisting with investigations into an incident at Friendship on Thursday.
Meanwhile, he said in that attack, no firearms were used, only cutlasses. The situation remains tense in the villages on Bush Lot Farm, Bush Lot, Nuney, Friendship and sections of Kildonan.