THE police are investigating reports that between 05:30 hrs on Thursday, June 30 and 19:00 hrs on Friday July 01, 2011, three men, armed with shotguns, attacked and robbed five captains and nineteen crew members of five fishing vessels off the Corentyne foreshore, Berbice, and another two captains and six crew members in Suriname waters, including, Surinamese Michael White, 45. The Guyanese captains whose fishing vessels were attacked are Herman Baldeo, 45, of Number  43 Village, Corentyne; Iqbal Bacchus, 27, of Rampoor, Corriverton; Vincent Peters, 32, of Number 46 Village, Corentyne; Rajesh Chunu, 40, of Lancaster Village, Corentyne; Ramroop Sukhan, 49, of Lusignan, East Coast Demerara; and Nokhul Manohar, 31, of Number 41 Village, Corentyne, Berbice.

During the series of armed robberies Herman Baldeo was shot to his left shoulder and the perpetrators took away groceries, cell phones, fishing seine, and four outboard motor engines.

All the fishermen were subsequently placed in one fishing boat and left adrift, with their boats also drifting while the armed men escaped in the fishing boat that was captained by the Surinamese, Michael White.

However, between 15:00 hrs and 18:00 hrs on Saturday all the victims were rescued with the assistance of other fishermen. Herman Baldeo has been admitted to the New Amsterdam Hospital and is reported to be in a stable condition.
The fishing vessels that were set adrift have been recovered with the exception of Ramroop Sukhan’s boat.