Police
arrest two
after Bagotstown robbery
‘Sweet
Dreams’ owner stabbed in chest
Hot water used to coerce
By
Samantha Alleyne
Three bandits broke into the home of a Bagotstown
businessman early yesterday morning, stabbed him in
the chest and made off with cash and other valuable
items.
A police press release yesterday stated that two of
the three alleged bandits were later arrested at
Eccles after police shot one of them in the legs.
He is now under police guard at the Georgetown
Public Hospital Corporation.
At around 3.30 am yesterday morning the three
bandits, two of whom were armed with guns, entered
the home of Farouk Hussain, a businessman at
Lot 8 Public Road, Bagotstown. Forty-nine-year-old
Hussain who lives above his mattress and hardware
store, ‘Sweet Dreams’, told Stabroek News from
his hospital bed that he was asleep when the bandits
entered through a back window. Hussain lives alone
and said he had been renovating the back of his home
so there was no grillwork in place. He was woken by
a gun lash to his face. He said the bandits then
demanded money but were not satisfied by his initial
contributions.
So one of the men ordered another accomplice to boil
some water.
The still shaken man said to his amazement the
bandits then lit his stove and placed a pot of water
on the stove to boil.
“Them man boiling that water and you hearing that
water boiling......and that thing I don’t know how
to describe my feelings then,” the man said with
an anguished look on his face.
Hussain said the bandits then made him lie face down
on the floor, bound his feet and hands and gagged
him with a piece of sheet. They continued to beat
him although he had told them where to find the
money and jewellery. He could not estimate his
losses yesterday but said the men took two expensive
watches, including a Rolex worth about $600,000. The
police report said the bandits had reportedly taken
away $800,000, a quantity of gold and jewellery and
a Rolex.
According to Hussain, before the bandits left they
carried the pot of water into his room and
threatened to throw it on him but he begged them to
spare his life as he has already given them
everything he had.
After the three left, Hussain said he managed to
free himself and raise an alarm. His sister, who
lives next door, called the police but after waiting
sometime he drove to the Providence Police Station
with blood oozing from the wound in his chest.
After making a report, the manager of his store
drove him to the hospital where he was admitted.
Meanwhile the police press release said it was
“prompt and intelligent action by a mobile police
patrol in the area that led them to Eccles Public
Road where the two suspected bandits, both residing
at Eccles Housing Scheme, were seen and
confronted…” The release said when challenged,
one of them drew a weapon but was fired upon by the
police.
A 9mm pistol with one round in the magazine was
recovered from him along with two gold finger rings,
one gold chain and a driver’s licence belonging to
a city resident.
Two wristwatches, four gold rings, one Ericsson cell
phone and $1,120 were found on the other.
The police said the two men arrested are brothers
and they are continuing their investigations.
In his hospital bed yesterday, Hussain told Stabroek
News he has been operating his business for ten
years, and while it was not the first time he had
been robbed, it was the first time bandits had
broken into his home and brutalised him.
Still he was thankful that he was still alive:
“Those were worldly things they took. I still have
my life and I have to thank God for saving my
life.”
He said he was only being kept in the hospital for
observation despite the deep stab wound to his chest
and was impatient to be discharged so he could go
back to running `Sweet Dreams.’ (Back
to top)
Suspected
bandit shot, brother held
A
SUSPECTED bandit was last night under guard at the
Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation nursing
gunshot wounds in both legs while his brother was in
Police custody following an armed robbery at
Bagotstown, East Bank Demerara, early yesterday
morning.
Police
in a statement said the suspect drew a 9mm pistol
after he was confronted by a Police patrol but the
Police reacted quickly and shot him in both legs.
According
to the Police, enquiries disclosed that about 03:30
hrs yesterday, three bandits, two of whom were armed
with guns, entered the home of a businessman at Lot
8 Public Road, Bagotstown where they tied his hands
and feet then stabbed him in the chest after their
demands for cash and jewellery were not met.
The
bandits then reportedly took away G$800,000, gold
jewellery and a Rolex wristwatch before escaping,
Police said.
Police
said that prompt and intelligent action by a mobile
Police patrol in the area led them to Eccles Public
Road where the two suspects, both residing at Eccles
Housing Scheme, were seen and confronted on the
road.
When
challenged by the Police, one of them drew the
weapon but members of the patrol fired at him.
A
9mm Pistol with one round in the magazine was
recovered from him along with two gold rings, a gold
chain and a driver's licence in favour of a city
resident.
Two wristwatches, four gold rings, an Erickson cell phone, and $1,120 were found on the other suspect, Police said.