Dry goods shop owners beaten, robbed


Target: The dry goods shop. (Corwin Williams photos)
A FAMILY operating a dry goods shop at Triumph Village, East Coast Demerara was beaten and robbed at gunpoint of an undisclosed amount of cash by a gang of three men on Sunday evening.

Mr. Loki Narine, 50, and his wife, Mrs. Druphattie Narine of 123 Triumph Village were sitting in their shop on Sunday evening around 20:00 hrs when they were robbed.

According to Loki, he was selling a case of lemonade to a regular customer when another man approached him for a case of beer. He proceeded to sell the man the beer, when another man approached him and placed a gun to his head telling him not to move.

The man he was selling the beer to proceeded to take Druphattie into the kitchen, demanding that she give them money. She gave the money they had downstairs but was unaware of the amount.

Loki said that a third man was outside the gate with a machine gun.

He recalled that the man holding the gun to his head told the other holding his wife to "kill she."

The father of three said he tried to move and that was when he was hit with a gun and sustained a gash in the head. He was also bruised in an ear and on the neck and he and his wife were also cuffed on their mouths.

Victim: Loki Narine
After the bandits got the money, they escaped, one on a bicycle and the other two on foot and according to the Narines and their neighbours, they used the 'back dam' road.

According to Loki, the robbery lasted about 10 minutes and police arrived at the scene shortly after.

A neighbour, Amitra Singh of 153 National Walk, Triumph, was going to the store when he heard a scream and saw a man stooping his way out of the shop. Singh said that he knew that the owner was being robbed because he saw the men with guns and he went back home and told his family to call all the neighbours and alert them.

Another neighbour, Patrick Singh stated that he received a call from Amitra's family informing him that the Narines were being robbed so he called the Beterverwagting Police Station.

According to the neighbours who called the police, the men who appeared to be in their late 30's to 40's, left the scene pointing their guns in opposite directions. - 

(YELENA RAMAUTAR)

Wrong impression
THE wrong impression may have been created in the second paragraph of the story headed `President Jagdeo tops PPP/C leadership list' on page one of the Chronicle yesterday.

Official sources at the Congress said the President never supported the amendment that the structure of the party be changed to accommodate a Leader, Chairman and General Secretary.

The paragraph in the Chronicle story may have given the wrong impression that Mr. Jagdeo was contesting for the leadership of the party or supported the amendment by some delegates to change the current leadership structure of the party.

The President, in fact, gave full support for the current structure, the sources said.

The proposal to change the structure was unanimously rejected by the Congress.