Gunmen
terrorise couple in Buxton driver shot in escape bid
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Chandika Persaud called
‘Wrecker’ is presently nursing two gunshot wounds to
his shoulder
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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
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