Family members of the now-dead newspaper vendor Sham Munilall of Queenstown Village on the Essequibo Coast, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) are alleging that information was leaked to the bandits that the man had collected money from the bank.
Munilall’s family mourning his loss
Forty-eight-year-old Munilall, also called “newspaper man” and “Chunnilall”, was shot and killed on Friday night at his home by two armed bandits.
According to relatives, Munilall had collected some money on Thursday from the bank and was keeping the money at home since he was going to restart his chicken business.
Guyana Times understands that the amount collected was a sum of $125,000, which was a part payment on the loan taken from the bank. However, when the two bandits attacked the Munilall family on Friday night, they demanded directly for the $125,000 he collected from the bank.
Relatives believe that someone from the bank might have been in collusion with the bandits and passed on information.
Newspaper vendor Sham Munilall
Police have since arrested four suspects including the two who had attacked Munilall and his family. The other two suspects were found in the company of the two prime suspects.
The four young men remained in custody and are assisting with further investigations.
This newspaper was told that Munilall was at the front of the yard with a neighbour doing Bar-B-Que when the two bandits, both wearing helmets, and one armed with a gun and the other with a cutlass, scaled the fence from the southern side. They attacked his wife, Rita, who was at the front door of the flat house.
Upon seeing his wife captured by the bandits, who were trying to gain entry into his home, Munilall attacked the perpetrators with a rake he had retrieved from the front of the yard.
In retaliation, however, the gunman opened fire at the father of two, shooting him four times about his body before escaping by scaling the fence again.
The 48-year-old man was hit to his chest, shoulder and right side abdomen, causing him to collapse. He was rushed to the Suddie Public Hospital and was pronounced dead on arrival. His body is currently at the hospital’s mortuary awaiting a Post-Mortem.
When this publication visited the family’s home on Saturday, the man’s wife and two daughters were still in shock. Unable to speak about the incident, they had to be consoled by relatives and friends who gathered at their home.
Relatives say that one of the suspects in custody used to live nearby the Munilalls. They believe he is the mastermind behind the attack.
Meanwhile, Mayor of the Anna Regina Town, Rajendra Prabhulall, People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Regional Supervisor and former Vice Chairman, Vishnu Samaroo, and other party members visited the grieving family on Saturday.
A prayer service was done by the Mayor, who is also a pastor.
