-rob, leave passengers stranded
A ROBBER posing as a passenger in a minibus plying the New Amsterdam/Crabwood Creek route is in police custody following a hold-up along the Number 19 Village thoroughfare on Friday. The incident occurred during mid-morning hours whilst 55-year-old minibus driver Chetram Sirkissoon, called Ravi, of Rose Hall Town, was en route to Skeldon, Corentyne with conductor Trevolon Kemperdoo and other passengers.
Sirkissoon had earlier collected the sum of $260,000 from businessman James Ross of New Amsterdam to deliver to a resident on the Upper Corentyne. He placed the money in his pants pocket and drove along the Strand public road, where he collected several passengers, including an identifiable person and three other men.
Along the Number 19 Public Road, one of the men asked Sirkissoon to stop the vehicle so that he might relieve himself; but, instead of so doing, the man pulled a revolver from his pants waist, pointed it to the conductor, and ordered the passengers out of the vehicle.
An accomplice, meanwhile, pounced on the hapless driver, choked him and relieved him of the money in his pocket, whilst the other bandit robbed Thakoordyal Ramshair, a Demerara Distilleries Limited (DDL) clerk who was a passenger of the bus, taking away a driver’s licence and $14,000 in cash.
The bandits then took possession of the minibus, BMM 959, valued at $2M, and drove in the direction of New Amsterdam.
Swift police response coupled with information received led to the abandoned bus being retrieved aback of Palmyra. The vehicle is currently lodged at Central Police Station. One bandit was later taken into custody as investigations continue.