.Continuing
crime wave...
The
robbers carted off an undisclosed sum of money, jewellery and household
articles, one of the victims, Brijanand Baksh told the Chronicle. He
said their ordeal started about 19:30 hrs (7:30 p.m.) when three armed
men, clad only in short pants, stormed into their Lot 20 Coldingen home. Baksh,
still visibly shaken Wednesday, said they were just about going to bed
when the bandits struck. Prior
to then, he had heard voices outside the house but paid no attention to
them because the one-flat building, made mostly of zinc sheets, houses two
families, including five children who were inside. Baksh
said the invaders gained entry through the front door and immediately
attacked his brother Mohammed, wife Radica and two children, Avinash
and Shabana. Radica
and Mohammed were seeking medical attention at Georgetown Public Hospital
Corporation Wednesday, for wounds suffered at the hands of their
attackers, who failed in a bid to forcibly take away
eight-year-old Shabana.
They
ransacked the house and, not satisfied with what loot they gathered, dealt
Radica several blows, including with a gun butt. One of the
trio made a stab at Avinash with a screwdriver but
the thick jersey the child was wearing caused the point not to penetrate. However, the 13-year-old boy was thrown into a chest of drawers and commanded to deliver money as the men searched and found some hidden in a coffee bottle.
A
tape recorder, a bicycle and other things were also stolen by the
marauders, before her parents' pleas prevented them abducting the girl who
was screaming all the time. Baksh said the robbers next turned their attention to the adjoining one- bedroom apartment where the male occupant handed over $5,000 which they took, along with a camera, a 'Casio' wrist watch valued $10,000 and more things.
Baksh
said Tuesday night was the seventh time his household had such an
experience. He had only moved to that address three days before but is now
leaving the village permanently. The
other family has been residing there for more than a year because they
have nowhere else to go, despite constant attacks by bandits. Coldingen
and Non Pariel villages have been targeted since the February 23, 2002
Georgetown jailbreak that saw the start of the escalating crime wave. Some
other people in the Coldingen neighbourhood were dismantling their house
Wednesday and one of them, Sharon Shirlochan said she is moving to
Enterprise after three weeks at the location. "I
came here for a fresh start, to build this small house with the little
money I had. But we have to move now that the bandits are around,"
said the woman, who was living there with her sister and a small child. Many
more houses in the vicinity have been abandoned and locked up or sold as
their occupants vacated for the same reason. Another
man, Abdul, who was attacked in daylight on Tuesday, offered that
the absence of electricity and security makes Coldingen an ideal target. Others said they desperately need a Police outpost because where they live is like a backyard to Buxton, from where most of the banditry is launched.
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