Three armed bandits attacked one of their regular victims at Lusignan on the Railway Em-bankment on Tuesday evening sending neighbours packing and the police on a hunt.

Jamluddin Azeez and wife, Zarina Singh along with their children and some relatives were humiliated earlier this year when bandits attacked them.

On that occasion a large gang of bandits had sexually assaulted some of the women in the home and forced a man to drink a large bottle of rum. They had also carted off a substantial amount of cash along with jewellery and other articles.

 

On Tuesday evening they pounced on Azeez who was home alone lying on his bed at around 7 pm when he heard someone kick his door.

The man said he did not bother at first, thinking that it might have been his son or neighbours who would sometimes jokingly knock on his door.

When he got up he saw three men one armed with a handgun. Azeez related that the man commanded him to stay quiet, while inquiring where his wife was. Singh, who is also a market vendor, had moved out last week Friday because of the crime wave. Azeez said he told the bandit that Singh was not there and with that they switched off the lights and began interrogating him.

On Tuesday afternoon his daughter had sold some eggs and apparently the bandits saw when a Canter truck collected the trays.

They asked where the money was but he said the woman was not home. They got upset and threatened to kill him.

Next they marched into his room, ransacked his wardrobe drawers, clothes baskets and other bags. Azeez said they did not find anything and quickly left.

Jumping over the back fence, the bandits then lit a fire at the corner of Ramesh Susankar's house which has been abandoned since he was ambushed and killed last month.

Azeez said he ran out of his house as soon as the bandits left and raised an alarm, but no one came out. A call was made to the police but ranks arrived some time after 9 pm.

Azeez was concerned that the bandits continue to use a track on a dam which separates a cane field from Lusignan. He observed too that Susankar's house which has been abandoned could provide the perfect hideout for the bandits who ambush their victims from that point.

Following the robbery two of Azeez's neighbours have begun packing their clothes and by last evening they had moved out of the village.

"Me can't stay hay, this thing ain't stopping," one woman said as she folded some of her things into a carton.

Another man said he was fed up with the situation.

"My business can't go on. You can't live in peace in this place. I don't know where to go. This is my home and I have nowhere else," the man quarrelled.

Azeez's wife said for some strange reason she had decided to move out of the house leaving her husband alone. She noted that since Susankar was killed she was not comfortable.

"Thank God me nah been home. You hear them ask for me again, they think I gat the money because I am a vendor," Singh said while comforting her shaken husband.

Police have taken a statement from Azeez and have also taken fingerprints from the building. Over recent weeks there has been a sharp increase in criminal activities on the lower East Coast Demerara with five persons including a policeman and a nine-year-old girl killed. (Nigel Williams)