By Dale Andrews
Tension has once again gripped the East
Coast of Demerara following the terrorising of a
group of workers from the Guyana Sugar Corporation
by three gunmen armed with AK-47 assault rifles on
Monday night.
One of the workers, 51-year-old security guard
Chandradeo Dharamdeo, received a grazing wound to
his left eye from a bullet fired at close range, and
there are fears that his sight could be severely
affected.
Two other workers, chain operator Dharmendra
Ramlall and Dhankumar Gopaul, were gun-butted and
had to be treated at the Georgetown Hospital for
gaping wounds to their heads.
Another guard Baburam, called ‘Babo', managed
to escape the terror by jumping into a canal.
The gunmen relieved Dharamdeo of a 12-gauge
shotgun along with a hand-held radio set and other
articles.
They made good their escape by forcing tractor
operator Sukhdeo at gunpoint to drop them at a
bridge behind Buxton.
A police press release said that at about
22:30hrs, five GUYSUCO workers were attacked and one
of them robbed by three men armed with firearms at
Spring Bridge , Lusignan Backdam, ECD.
The release said that investigations so far have
revealed that Security Guards Chandradeo Dharamdeo,
51, and Baburam, 54, who were each armed with
12-gauge Winchester pump action shotguns, along with
tractor operator Sukhdeo, 59, chain operator
Dharmendra Ramlall, 36, and 28-year-old operator
Dankumar Gopaul were at the Spring Bridge area
awaiting the arrival of additional punts with cane
when they were confronted by the three armed men.
While the armed men were approaching them, the G
uysuco workers heard a loud explosion, and at this
stage Baburam jumped into a nearby canal which he
crossed and then sought refuge in the canefields.
In the process he dropped the shotgun he was
carrying, but this was later recovered by police
ranks who responded to the report.
The police said that Chandradeo Dharamdeo was
robbed of his firearm plus 10 cartridges and a radio
set, property of G uysuco , along with a cell phone,
wrist-watch, a pair of spectacles and $1,800.
Dharamdeo, Ramlall, Gopaul, and Sukhdeo were all
beaten about their bodies by the three men.
They were subsequently treated at the GPHC and
sent away.
After robbing Dharamdeo and assaulting the
others, the three armed men abducted tractor
operator Sukhdeo and forced him to transport them
with the tractor to a bridge aback of Buxton, while
threatening to kill him.
The police said that on arrival at the bridge
Sukhdeo was released, and he made his way to the G
uysuco office at LBI, ECD, where he reported the
incident.
By this time, other G uysuco security personnel
had rushed to the Spring Bridge area and rescued the
other three workers after they had not received any
response to their routine calls on the radio set.
“The police received the report at about
23:15hrs and responded promptly along with ranks of
the GDF.
Escape routes along the backlands were cut off
and joint foot patrols were launched,” the police
press release stated.
Baburam, who had hidden himself in the canefields,
was found about 04:50hrs yesterday at a watch hut
near to the Lusignan Prison, after having crossed
several canals.
Police say they have recovered two live 7.62 x 39
rounds and one spent shell at the scene.
Recalling the 15 minutes of terror, Dharmendra
Ramlall, called Ramanan, told this newspaper that he
and six other workers were sitting in the dark
waiting for colleagues from the Enmore Estate when
the men suddenly appeared.
He said that he did not see the men since they
had discharged a round and ordered everyone to lie
on the ground.
“Dem said don't move, don't move. Dem fire a
shot pon de security, straight ah he eye. De man
fall down. When de man fall down, dem start kick he.
Den dem put all ah we fuh lie down and start beat we
up. Dem tek de gun and lash me in me head, lash me
partner all in he head,” Ramlall recalled.
He said the men threatened to kill them all, and
had even planned to drive one of the tractors over
them.
“One ah dem seh no use yuh shoot dem and waste
de bullet, ‘drive de tractor over dem and kill all
ah dem'. He start fuh cuss and seh ‘all alyuh gat
fuh dead',” Ramlall told this newspaper.
He said that they saw the two security guards and
assumed that they were policemen and attacked them
first. He added that one of the security guards
dropped his gun and jumped overboard.
He said that the men must have thought that they
had killed the other guard who had remained
motionless while the men kicked him several times
about his body.
“When he lie down, dem kick he. Clap about
three kick pon am, but the man don't resist or
nothing, because de next one ask, ‘Wha happen to
he?' de other one seh he done get shot and dead,”
Ramlall said.
“Is a good thing dem guards nah shoot back
because all awe bin dead,” he added.
According to the chain operator, the men also
took the injured guard's bullet-proof vest.
He said he did not get to see the men's faces nor
their attire, and was only able to get up when the
tractor the gunmen had commandeered had reached a
safe distance away.
Ramlall, who has been working with Guysuco for
the past five years, said that he had never
experienced such terror before.
“Ah right deh dem kidnap dem two sugar workers,
right deh, and ah right deh we park and wait,” he
stated.
His neighbour Ousman Alli was held for close to a
day in a house in Buxton in 2003.
He said he was made to understand that G uysuco
will stop the transporting of cane from LBI to
Enmore.
He added that he has already dismissed working at
nights in the backlands of the East Coast of
Demerara.
A release from the Guyana Sugar Corporation said
that all seven employees involved in the incident
are accounted for and have received medical
attention.
The release added that while six of the workers
were accounted for shortly after the incident a
security guard who had hidden in the canefields was
not found until 05:00 hrs this morning when he
showed up at Jail Cross, Lusignan.
Sugar workers and villagers alike are questioning
the role of the Joint Services that have set up camp
in the Buxton area to sanitise the community of
gunmen.
It is believed that the gunmen are still in the
village despite the reported constant patrols by the
security forces.
The army had said that the base in Buxton is a
launching pad for operations in the entire Lower
East Coast .
But while there has been a lull in criminal
activities on the East Coast of Demerara, Monday
night's incident raises concern for the safety of
residents, especially in the run-up to General
Elections, which are scheduled for August 28.
Wednesday
07-26-2006
