Alert Annandale
residents chase suspicious youths
FOLLOWING
last Friday's terror attack in a section of Annandale, East Coast Demerara,
residents yesterday chased two suspicious looking youths, believed to be
armed, out of the area.
A man is searched by members of a Police patrol at the corner of Gale Street and Market Road, Annandale yesterday
The
youths were riding on two bicycles shortly after noon yesterday in the very
area where Friday's terror attacks were carried out. The manner and appearance
of the men raised the suspicions of the residents and they responded
immediately.
Two licensed firearm holders discharged a couple of rounds in the air while another resident threw his bicycle on one of the suspicious youths, knocking him off his bicycle. The youth then quickly got off the ground and, minus his bicycle and one of his slippers, sprinted down a road, which leads into Buxton. His partner also took the same route, but on bicycle.
The
business premises of
Basil Singh at the corner of Gale Street and Market Road, Annandale, East
Coast Demerara. The owner greeted a gunman with gunfire. The gunman quickly
fled.
A Police
patrol vehicle, which arrived on the scene shortly, picked up the lad’s
bicycle, which had been damaged by the angry residents, and carried it to the
Vigilance Police Station.
Residents
told this newspaper that they believed the youths were armed since the
impression of a gun was visible on each of their persons. A businessman, who
had been following the young men, decided to discharge a round in the air. He
was immediately joined by another businessman, who also discharged a shot in
the air. By this time, a number of villagers gathered on the scene and
attempted to hold the intruders.
According
to one resident, when the businessmen fired off the shots, one of the youths
was overheard telling the other, “Duck! Duck!” It was at this moment that
one villager threw his bicycle on the youth.
Meanwhile,
a lone gunman posing as a customer attacked businessman, Mr. Basil Singh
at his general store located at the corner of Gale Street and Market Road,
Annandale on Saturday afternoon. But the gunman’s robbery bid was foiled,
when the businessman, a licensed firearm holder, surprised the criminal.
Singh
told the Chronicle that he was sitting at his desk behind the counter,
"when a gentleman approached me with a shopping list" and requested
to purchase the items on the list. The man then opened a small bag he was
carrying and whipped out a gun, Singh said.
"He
pointed the gun straight at me and told me not to move and to put all the
money that I have in the bag," the businessman related.
Singh
said he then reached for his gun and surprised the bandit by discharging a
shot in the man’s direction. He said the man immediately turned and fled the
scene on foot.
He
recalled that on Friday the marauding youths in Gale Street had tried to
attack his business premises during the same rampage. Some of the youths
started rocking the iron gate trying to gain entry into his premises. When
they realised that they could not gain access to the property, they left, he
said.
Singh
also noted that residents are now strongly contemplating having a vibrant and
effective vigilante and Policing Group such as the one in Enmore, another East
Coast Demerara Village.
There
was an atmosphere of tension and uncertainty throughout the Gale Street area
and in other parts of Annandale when this newspaper visited yesterday.
The area
was in a state of terror last Friday afternoon when a marauding band of over
40 armed youths from neighbouring Buxton swarmed the village in broad
daylight. They attacked, beat, robbed and molested dozens of residents.
The
traumatised residents told the Chronicle on Saturday that between 16:30 and
17:00 hours Friday, a band of youths aged between 14 and 18 years of age and
brandishing guns, choppers and knives, invaded the village and then dispersed
into groups of about four persons each.
They
immediately proceeded to barge into homes, attacking and robbing occupants.
Adults and children who were on the streets were also molested and robbed of
as little as $200, residents said.
The
reign of terror which lasted about 30 minutes, ended when a businessman in the
village switched on his alarm and a group of residents, a licensed firearm
holder among them, banded themselves to confront the marauding gang.
The
firearm holder discharged several rounds in the air.
The gang
was apparently surprised by the sound of gunfire coming from the residents,
and quickly left the scene. Police arrived about 45 minutes after the mob left
the village, residents said.
The
Friday afternoon attack on Annandale followed the early Wednesday morning
rampage by a gang of bandits at Non Pariel, also on the East Coast.
The gang
terrorised and robbed several families, fleeing with jewelry, cash and
household appliances. Residents said the men escaped in the direction of the
Railway Embankment road where a car was waiting for them.
They said the ten attackers were unmasked and heavily armed men, who reportedly sexually assaulted two young women and set alight a bereaved man during a wake he was hosting for his deceased wife.