Robbery victim Harrilall Boodram believes that had the police acted quickly, the three armed men who invaded his home and stabbed his wife during a 15-minute rampage on Thursday would have been caught.

The law enforcement officers had instead called for backup allowing the men an easy escape, he said

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Although no one has been caught, the police are conducting investigations into the incident and repeated efforts yesterday by Stabroek News to get a comment from the force were unsuccessful.

Meanwhile, Boodram's wife Nadira Harriprashad called Jenny is in the Georgetown Hospital after suffering a stab wound to her neck. She is not yet out of danger.

It was around 9.12 on Thursday night when a gunman confronted the couple in their yard located at Vigilance North Squatting area and shortly after two masked men, who were also armed, joined him.

 

The couple was then forced to a side porch and while one of the bandits guarded Boodram, Harriprashad was led to the upper flat by the other two. It was sometime during this that she was stabbed.

The bandits dragged the injured Harriprashad all over the house as they tumbled the place looking for money and jewellery. The valuables that were found were placed in a bag they were carrying and minutes later the men escaped through the backyard after they saw a police vehicle pulling up to the front of the house.

Harriprashad, who was bleeding heavily from her wound, was rushed to the Georgetown Hospital.

At the couple's home yesterday, several relatives and friends were gathered and the injured woman's husband was sitting with a blank look on his face. He was still wearing clothing that was covered in his wife's blood.

A blood trail was evident from the side door on the bottom flat, up the stairs to the second floor, where blood was also smeared all over the walls. A door the police had kicked down was lying in the same position. Papers and other items that the bandits had knocked over were scattered all over the living room.

About 20 minutes after this newspaper arrived, armed ranks and a detective from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) turned up to begin their investigations. This was around 10:30 am.

A still shocked Boodram also known as `Fish Boy' said that around 8.30 pm he was about to leave home to collect his son from lessons in Lusignan, about three miles away when a man holding a gun confronted him at the gate. His wife had been following close behind to lock the gate after he would have left.

It would have been hard for neighbours on either side to know anything was amiss as the couple's shop obstructed vision on one side and trees on the other.

According to Boodram, the armed man led them to a stand outside where they were instructed to sit. Shortly after two more men joined them. The men then led them inside and lashed him in the eye and about his body.. He was not aware that his wife had been stabbed until the ordeal was over.

UNSOLVED Crime

He said that he was lying chest-down on the floor outside while a bandit sat on his back. He said that his mouth was also taped up so that he could not raise an alarm. The other two led his wife into the house and locked the door.

"They tumble up the whole place and they pack a bag with money and jewellery. I can't give an average but is plenty thing dem gon with. I get back one, one thing, like a fine chain and a ring that drop on the floor."

The man, fear written all over his face, said his daughter Rosita and her three-month-old baby were in a room upstairs and when she heard the commotion, she locked the bedroom door. However, she was forced to open it when the gunmen threatened to kill her mother and they also kept demanding money and jewellery.

Boodram said the men instructed Rosita to take their bag of loot downstairs.

"I couldn't halla but me sista living across the road know what din happening. She call de police".

He said that one of the bandits came running down the stairway shouting, "police are here, police are here". In his haste, Boodram said, the man broke one of the steps.

The other one who was in the house bolted down the inside stairs and they all fled through the backyard.

"I turn and tell de police (three or four of them who were in the pickup) that de men getting away but they just come in de yard and call for backup. They could have surrounded this place and catch these men," an upset Boodram said.

The man said while the bandits were making their getaway, his daughter ran back into her room and locked the door and the police later kicked it down. He said that following the incident the police only talked to his daughter. "Dey talk to me daughter. They didn't ask me anything. They just walk out of de yard."

In all the years he has been living in the area, Boodram said, he was never attacked.