Bandits stage daylight robbery on Boyo Ramsaroop's home By Iana Seales Sunday, August 12th 2007 The verandah from which Boyo Ramsaroop jumped yesterday to escape gunmen who were robbing his home. (Photo by Aubrey Crawford) Gunmen stormed the Lamaha Gardens residence of Boyo Ramsaroop and held his household at gunpoint yesterday before ransacking the home and making off with a quantity of jewellery and cash. In a brazen daylight attack, two unmasked men brandishing pistols walked through the front gate and confronted three employees of the home who were busily working downstairs and did not notice the intruders until they got close. Ramsaroop, a civil engineer and horticulturalist, was upstairs and unaware of the events unfolding on the lower level. But the men went in search of him and within minutes of their arrival, a gun was pointed at his head. "I was there lying on my bed and the next thing I know a strange man was in my room pointing a gun to my face. I was never really alarmed since I thought of my family and staff and worried about their safety over mine," Ramsaroop related yesterday. The incident occurred shortly after 11 am within minutes of Ramsaroop, his family and employees returning home. They had been gone all morning and Ramsaroop had transacted business and had gone home with cash. He recounted that his young daughter was among the employees downstairs and his wife was inside the house along with another employee. After the men entered the premises, his daughter and the staff were ordered to kneel down as one of the men kept a gun pointed at them. They were threatened not to look at the man's face. The other gunman went into the home and bumped into Ramsaroop's wife. He pointed the gun at her and demanded that she show him upstairs. He grabbed another member of staff in the house and took them both. When they got to the bedroom the man approached Ramsaroop and asked him for money. "Boyo is wey de money deh," the man reportedly said, and then dealt Ramsaroop a blow to the head with the gun. Ramsaroop said he got off the bed and moved away from his wife and staff so the man would follow him. The gunman followed him and Ramsaroop made a run for it. He dashed to the verandah and after opening the door with a key, he jumped from the verandah to the ground. While attention was diverted away from them Ramsaroop's wife ran to the bathroom and locked herself in while the staff member used the opportunity to flee downstairs. The gunman after losing sight of Ramsaroop went in search of his wife. He kicked open a bedroom door to get to her but was unable to get the bathroom door open. After jumping, Ramsaroop said that he ran out onto the road and called for help as vehicles were passing his home, but no one stopped. He said the men were in the home ransacking it at that time. His daughter and the employees managed to escape to a neighbour's home where they telephoned the police. Ramsaroop said the men walked passed him as he stood appealing for help and one of them pointed a gun at him. He said the man could have shot him had he wanted to, but he just went on his way. Ramsaroop and his household are grateful that no shots were fired and that although he was injured he suffered only minor bruises from his fall. It was the first robbery Ramsaroop has had at his home. He recalled that many years ago that he was "choke and robbed." The police responded promptly, but the men were long gone by the time they arrived. The team took fingerprints and checked the surrounding area after speaking with Ramsaroop and his staff. The men who carried out the robbery are not known to Ramsaroop who has a good relationship with many persons in the Sophia area which is close to his home. He said they were young but strange to the area. In an interview with Sunday Stabroek earlier this year Ramsaroop revealed that he had embarked on an ambitious project that aims to uplift residents in Plum Park, Sophia, and bring about change in the lives of its young people. For the project, he has taken several young men from the area under his wing, and is teaching them some aspects of horticulture. Provided they get through that okay, which he is optimistic about, he will move on to electrical engineering.