SHOT and injured fisherman, Parmanand Bacchus, yesterday said that he is disgusted at the police’s inaction in making an arrest following the shooting incident, even though they have vital information. The frustrated man told the Guyana Chronicle that he and relatives have tried desperately to make contact and to speak with the sergeant at Vigilance Police Station but to date they have been unsuccessful, as telephone calls have been futile, while they have been turned away during their visits.
Bacchus stated that although he was discharged from hospital and is recuperating at a relative’s home, the police are yet to visit him to take statements and as such there have been no arrests.
He explained that the day he was shot and injured and was at the hospital, a policeman visited him and made him sign a statement in which he was unaware  what was written,  as he was very ill and in a semi-conscious.
At this time, Bacchus is in a lot of pain and is expected to re-visit the doctor for further treatment.
Bacchus, 45, of Non Pariel, East Coast Demerara, has not returned to his house since he was shot and injured by one of two men armed with a gun because he is fearful for his life.
He was shot and injured at the Strathspey seawall, also on the East Coast Demerara, while fishing on October 27, by two men, who were chatting with him.
Bacchus had even offered the men some fish before one of them pulled a gun from his waist after confirming that he was nicknamed “Fat Man”.
Recalling the incident, Bacchus said the two young men approached him at the scene and began chatting with him but, after they confirmed he was nicknamed ‘Fat Man’, they fired at him
and missed.
He lost his footing and fell and the men, who became angry, fired more shots at his head with a small calibre weapon that was thrown into the sea.
The father of three said he dived into the water and managed to swim away in the pulling tide, with a little finger fitting into the hole the bullet made in his head.
“I felt the blood and I put my little finger in the wound and filled it. When I could not see the men anymore I came out of the water and rode my bicycle to a relative’s house some distance away and was taken to the police station, then to the hospital,” he remembered.
Bacchus said, at first, when the men told him they were there to kill him, he laughed, thinking it was a joke. But he realised it was for real when one of the men pulled out a gun from his pants waist, aimed it at him and fired.
The wounded man said his relatives took him to Vigilance Police Station, also on the East Coast Demerara, where the ranks, after questioning him about what had happened, gave him a document and told him to go to the hospital but, even now, no further statement was taken from him by investigators.
Bacchus said a scan showed that the bullet was not in his head but had grazed his skull and he is very thankful to be alive, hoping that the culprits who almost ended his life are brought to justice.
He said since he separated from his wife, in 2005, his life has been a “living hell” and he could not live in peace.
Bacchus believes that the woman, with whom he has a court battle over property, is behind the shooting.
She was arrested the same day it happened but was released and he alleged that she has since threatened him following his departure from the hospital and vowed to end his life.