Taxi driver stabbed several times during failed hijacking
A hire car driver in Berbice is now a patient at the New Amsterdam Hospital, nursing a broken arm and several stab wounds to the regions of his back, neck, chest and arm, following a failed carjacking by a passenger.
The driver, Chunilall Dudnath, 52, of lot 232 East Canefield, Canje, Berbice, was asked to take a lone passenger in his car into a street at West Canefield, East Canje, when the incident occurred shortly before 22:00h on Monday night.
According to Dudnath, the passenger claimed to be going to the last house in the street. He said when they got there, he asked the
The vehicle which a passenger attempted to carjack
passenger if he lived at that house. Instead of answering, Dudnath said, the passenger stabbed him on the shoulder.
Dudnath noted that the stabbing continued as he tried to loosen his seat belt. He was then ordered out of the vehicle. After doing so, the passenger drove the car further down the street and Dudnath ran behind the carjacker. Not content with the injuries already inflicted on the hire car driver, the carjacke then reversed the vehicle into Dudnath, knocking him off his feet.
According to one eyewitness, Rafeek Hoosain, the taxi driver was hit twice, resulting in his arm being broken.
“This car knock down the man flat on the ground and the man get up and running and hollering help! Help! Help! By the time I turn in the street, the car reverse and knock him down again… The car slide in the drain and the man come out and run away and jump in a car. I thought it was a car driver knocking somebody, not knowing that is the thief knocking down the car driver,” he related.
Another villager, Khemwattie Submanani, who said she was able the get a look at the perpetrator, related that he was dressed in black and wore a red hat. She explained that the villagers ran after him but they were not able to see his face. The carjacker successfully escaped by leaving the community in another hire car which he stopped.
Following the incident, neighbours called the Police. Submanani said she repeatedly called 911 for about 15 minutes but did not get through. She also noted that the Reliance Police Station’s number was also tried but gave a busy tone. The Station Sergeant was then called on his cellular phone and moments later a patrol which included investigators arrived.
However, relatives of the injured hire car driver are concerned that the Police did not dust the vehicle for fingerprints. (Andrew Carmichael)
