– eyewitnesses say 10 heavily armed men were involved
Five men, including the driver of the suspected getaway car, are now in police custody following the robbery of a Number 69 Village, Corentyne couple on Saturday evening.
According to reports, about ten heavily armed men went to the home situated at Second Street, South Number 69 Village, Corentyne.
Villagers reported that the attack was made at about 22:20h. They say dogs in the area were barking for about twenty minutes prior.
INews understands that 27-year-old fisherman Sachin Ramrattan also called ‘Kemmy’; his 24-year-old wife Vidya Gopaul also called ‘Polly’ , who is nine months pregnant; and the couple’s 4-year-old son were able to escape before the men entered the building.
Reports are that the family got out of the building through a window and crawled onto the roof, then jumping onto the neighbour’s roof. The couple and the 4-year-old reportedly crossed three houses running across the roofs before jumping into an ally and made it into the next street when the man’s family lives.
One eyewitness related that he heard six guns shots. “Two single shots come from a different gun; you know because you hear the sound different, and the other like is from a machine gun,” this publication was told.
Meanwhile, police in a release said following the armed robbery, five suspects are in custody including a 33-year-old driver of Number 72 Village, Corentyne, who was found in his vehicle within close proximity of the crime scene. At the time of his arrest, he was found in possession of a small quantity of cannabis and a search of his premises unearthed an unlicensed shotgun, two spent and one live cartridge, the release said.
In explaining that all of the men were masked and heavily armed, one eyewitness said they were all dressed in black outfits. “All of them had strap up shoes, and some of them had on gloves and (masks) over their faces. The street had light and some of them were walking up and down the street so we peep out and see them…,” one neighbour said.According to the neighbour, three of the men went into the house and the others stayed on the street.
The men reportedly entered the two-storey building at about 22:30h and remained there until 0:45h, some neighbours say. “When they go in the house is just after I check the time on my phone and they were inside all the time till almost 1’ O’clock. All the time we calling; we call some people at the front street for them to call the police; we call Springlands Police Station, we call 51 [Number 51 Police Station] and we call New Amsterdam. These men were in the house for like two hours and no police can’t come and is everybody calling all the police stations…”
According to one report, the intruders who gained entry by smashing a window and then hammering out the iron grill remained in the house for more than two hours. $1.7 M in jewellery, $100,000 cash and other items were reportedly missing.
Meanwhile, the pregnant woman who had to jump some eight-feet to the ground suffered a few bruises but her pregnancy was reportedly not affected.
This publication was told that Ramrattan’s mother, his sister and his brother-in-law left the country last month leaving the family of three alone in the house.
The family has since moved to another location out of fear. (Andrew Carmichael)
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