Gunmen terrorise couple in Buxton driver shot in escape bid

A 38-year-old truck driver escaped with his life on Thursday when four bandits held him and his wife at gunpoint during a botched robbery at Buxton Sideline Dam.

Chandika Persaud called ‘Wrecker’ is presently nursing two gunshot wounds to his shoulder, which he sustained while running away from the bandits.
His wife, Sahodra Persaud, a teacher of the Annandale north nursery school, was rescued when the Community Policing Group in the area discharged several rounds, forcing the bandits to flee. The attack occurred at about 20:20 hours just as Persaud and his wife were returning home.
The truck driver, who spoke to this newspaper from his hospital bed, recalled that he and his wife were talking to a neighbour when two gunmen walked up to them and discharged a round into the air. The gunmen then led them further into the village of Buxton where the beating began.
“I lef’ early de morning fuh go and look wuk up de East Bank. When I de coming back de police stop me and detain me at Providence. Dey keep me deh fuh de whole day till me wife come and bail me. “We lef de station about seven o’clock and is coming home we coming home when de bandits attack we,” Persaud told Kaieteur News.
He said he parked his truck in front of his yard and was emerging when his neighbour called out to him.
“De neighbour tell me dat four men de waiting outside me yard and he ask me if I see dem. I didn’t see de men, but while talking to he, me see two people coming towards me.”
Persaud said that one of the men came up to him and discharged a round saying, ‘you is de man I want.’
One of the bandits held unto his hand while another held his wife and dragged them both out of the neighbour’s yard.
Some relatives, who lived a few houses away, said they saw when Persaud and his wife came home.
They also recalled seeing four men approach them, but thought that it was members of the Community Policing Group. “Den we hear gunshot and we see dem men dragging `Wrecker’ and he wife across a bridge; we ain’t know wha happen after,” a relative told this newspaper.
The truck driver said that while they were being dragged, one of the bandits demanded cash and jewellery.
“He ask me whey de gun, money and jewellery deh. When I tell he dat me ain’t gat none, he seh, ‘wait you gone know just now’. He hit me with de gun butt den he carry we over de bridge and brace me pon a post,” Persaud said. His wife was kicked to the ground while the two bandits, who were by now joined by two more accomplices, all carrying guns, threatened to kill them.
“I beg dem. I tell dem ah gat two pickney fuh look after. Me wife all beg dem. One ah dem with a long gun fire two times, but de gun didn’t go off, or else I would’a dead,” the truck driver stated.
Persaud was then placed to lie on the ground and one of the bandits began chopping him about his body.
“Like he go fuh juk me in me neck, but I block,” he added. Then a rare opportunity presented itself.
Persaud said that all the time he was contemplating how to get away from the men, but the fact that his wife would be left behind was at the back of his mind.
But he threw caution to the wind when the men who were having problems with their guns turned and looked away.The precious seconds enabled Persaud to get up and run, attracting several gunshots from the bandits.
“Dey fire two shots behind me, one catch me pon me shoulder. Me wife de still lie down deh with dem,” Persaud told Kaieteur News.
With Persaud gone, the bandits turned their attention to his wife.
“Dey ask me again fuh de money and I didn’t answer. Den one ah dem seh shoot me, but another one seh no,” Sahodra Persaud recalled.
By this time, her husband had alerted several residents, including members of the Community Policing Group who responded by firing several shots into the air.
“When dem bandits hear de shots, dey run away. Dem ain’t get fuh tek nothing from we,” the truck driver’s wife said. The police were summoned and arrived about 10 minutes after the attack. By then, however, the bandits had disappeared.
Persaud, covered with blood, was rushed to the Georgetown Hospital, where he was admitted.
The police are keeping a close watch on the area in the hope of quelling any attempt by bandits to re-start the incidence of armed robberies, which had plagued the East Coast of Demerara up to early this year.

Saturday, July 17th 2004