The father of one of the two bandits fatally shot by Police in Berbice on Friday morning said he warned his son about his criminal lifestyle and advised him to desist from wrongdoing.
Mansaran Sham told Guyana Times that he warned his son on several occasions, recalling the last time he saw his son was three months ago.
During their last meeting, he advised his son to stay out of trouble.
“Normally me and he does gaff and ah does tell him, ‘don’t do wrong things,’ and he tell me he would stop,” the dead man’s father said on Saturday.
Asked what he meant by “wrong things”, the father said stealing.
Prompt response and diligent investigative work by ranks of the Guyana Police Force stationed in Berbice resulted in the death of two bandits, the apprehension of two of four other suspects and the recovery of all of the stolen property. The robbery took place in the Canje River.
The two dead men have been identified as Indarjit Sham, also called “Danny”, 37, of Betsy Ground Village, East Canje; and Amar Bissoon, also called “Punk”, 21, of Adelphi Settlement, East Canje.
According to the Police, at 05:00h on Friday morning, six male suspects, two of whom were armed with guns, went to a ranch house at Potoko Creek, Berbice River and held three male labourers at gunpoint. The bandits stole 23 sheep, 15 ducks, a solar panel, a radio, a quantity of rope, and other valuables. The items were all loaded onto a waiting boat.
Police were able to intercept a boat in the Berbice River with the two suspects who are in custody, and based on further information, they proceeded to a location where the robbery allegedly occurred and found all of the animals with their legs bound and the other stolen property loaded inside a camouflaged aluminium boat. Soon after the lawmen were confronted by two of the bandits. They were both shot dead.
The Police have reported that two other suspects escaped and disappeared into the bushes.
“He get lock up plenty times but he does always come out because he never get red-handed catch, so I never know what going on,” the father said on Saturday. He said his son was previously employed as a cane harvester with the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo).
Also speaking with this publication, the dead man’s eldest child said her father left home on Thursday at about 05:00h saying he was going fishing.
She said there was no reason for her father to be involved in questionable activity since he was employed with GuySuCo and her mother worked. According to the 17-year-old, “is five of us living here and four of us working,” she said.
“When he aint working he does plant garden at home. Sometimes he and me uncle does go and catch fish, they does leave in the morning and come back before afternoon.”
The dead man’s brother told this publication that “I does advise him because people does accuse him of doing wrong things and they never see him, by they just accuse him… I still can’t believe that my brother doing that what happen there.”
The younger sibling said he has no knowledge of the others who were with his brother at the time of the robbery.
Meanwhile, Deputy Commander, Superintendent Wayne Dehart said the Police were responding to a report of theft. According to Deheart, the Police in Berbice is currently carrying out a series of raids along the Berbice and Canje Rivers and as such, it was not difficult to mobilise a marine patrol as soon as they were informed of the robbery.
“The report was that persons were using long guns,” he explained.
He said the Division is resolute in ensuring the safety of citizens, livestock and property. “We are not letting up in any way. Sometimes it is going to seem as though we are going too harsh or too hard on everybody. It is not a case where we see everybody as criminals, it is a case where we have to go into certain areas and some law-abiding citizens may be affected.”
He added that those who may be affected will only be affected on a short-term basis. He noted that activities that the police will be conducting from time is to time ensure that criminal activity is minimised and properly investigated.
He is imploring persons to come on board and supply information to the Police. That information will be held in the strictest of confidentiality, he told this publication. (Andrew Carmichael)
