ANDRE Hardy and his wife, Jenifer Henry, of 102 Long Pond, Sisters Village, West Bank Demerara, are calling on the police to investigate a case of abuse, attempted murder and threatening language by a group of approximately sixteen men operating in the Quartz Hill, Omai area, in a place called Granny Omai. The couple is also accusing an investigating rank of the Guyana Police Force of attempting to cover up reports they made of the incident.
The 32-year-old Andre expressed fear for his life in a recent visit to this publication, and also spoke of the injustice meted out to him.
He said that on Friday, July 13, he had awoken and had decided to go in search of bread to have his breakfast, leaving his wife at home. The man said he informed his wife that should he fail to return within a specific time, it would mean that he had ventured further up the hill in search of bread. However, he explained that he did not return at the specified time because he had been confronted by a group of about seventeen men, armed with cutlasses and guns, who accused him of stealing a floor mat that was wrapped up and had contained gold. He said the men informed him that the item was taken from a dredge located not too far from where he works on another dredge. The two dredges are separated by a third dredge, the man added.
He said he informed the men that he was not aware of what they were accusing him, whereupon the men gave him a severe thrashing, by which he sustained several bruises from which he is experiencing severe pains about his body.
Andre explained that the beating took place at a point known as Joker and Grinding Tail End.
He said that just before the men caught up with him, his wife appeared on the hill, and she was confronted by the men, who asked for her husband by his call name “ka-ki-dread”. His wife told him that she refused to answer the men until they got her husband’s right name. Once they got his right name, she told them that she did not know where he was. Seconds later, the man appeared from a nearby alleyway, and the men captured him.
The man said he was beaten about his body with a cutlass, and he showed this publication marks on his body from the beating he had sustained.
He said that whilst the men were beating him, they kept asking him to tell them where their stuff was, and he continued to tell them that he knew nothing about it. The men then threatened to burn his wife if they did not get what they were looking for.
According to Andre, the men took him in the bush, placed a gun in his mouth, bound his hands and feet, and made a lasso around his neck, threatening to hang him while his wife looked on.
He said the men set eyes on two other young men who were passing in the area at the time, and began beating them also. Asked if he knew the men, Andre responded in the negative, but said that the gang seemed to know the two men.
After beating the two men, the gang drenched them with gasoline and told them that if they did not tell where the gold was hidden, they would be set on fire.
According to Andre the matter was reported to a police rank who was in the area, and that police took a statement from him. He said that as he tried to get the matter further investigated, he was informed that the police who took his statement left the area and went to Lethem with his statement.
Asked how sure he was about that claim, Andre said the police rank’s senior officer confirmed this to him.
He said that whilst taking his statement, the rank had received a telephone call, and he kept enquiring if the call was from one ‘Scary’. Andre said that Scary is the man who led the assault against him, and this is known to the police.
He said the police rank seemed to have been more interested in his assailant than in him, the victim in the entire drama.
Unconfirmed reports are that Scary has since been taken into police custody.
Andre disclosed that he had reported the matter despite threats made to him by apparent leaders of the gang that had assaulted him, in that they had told him that he needed to be careful of what he was going to report to the police, because he has family living in the “backdam”.
The man is of the opinion that most, if not all, of the guns that were used to traumatize him and his wife were illegally acquired. He pointed to the rapid and steady firing of guns in the area at night, with no police action following.
Asked if the firing of guns had been reported to the police, Andre responded in the positive, saying that while he had never reported it for fear of losing his life, other persons had reported the matter to the station.
He said the assault gang had also chopped a young man on his foot, while another had his belly slashed. According to Andre, no one wanted to transport the injured men out of the area to seek medical attention; nevertheless, the man with the slashed belly was transported to the Georgetown Public Hospital, but had to be transferred to the Linden Hospital Complex to accommodate his family being able to visit him.
Andre said the other man is nursing his injured foot in the backdam, since no one is assisting him to get medical care.
Yesterday Andre came to the Guyana Chronicle with a copy of an official complaint he had made to the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission. It was signed by two witnesses, and listed one A. La Rose as the officer who had taken the complaint. Mr. Hardy also pointed out that the facts were true and given freely by the complainant.
Meanwhile, the man’s wife, Jennifer Henry said that the men with the guns had ordered her to board a vehicle, but she had refused. She had informed the men that she was five months pregnant and was not jumping into any vehicle. She said that as the men were beating her husband, she began to cry and questioned their right to do what they were doing.
She said that her husband has been living in the area for about five months, and that they operate a shop selling clothing and other necessities. Andre initially worked with one ‘Razor’ who operated a land dredge.
He said the gang continues to peddle different stories regarding the disappearance of their investment, and this makes their story warrant an investigation.
Contacted yesterday afternoon, a source at the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission confirmed that a complaint was lodged by Mr. Andre Hardy. The source said that the man’s complaint was taken in the context that it occurred in a mining district, but on the issue of the use of firearms, as reported by Andre Hardy, the police will have to be called in, because the GGMC is not equipped to respond to incidents involving firearms.
According to the source, the persons mentioned by the complainant are known to both the police and mines officers, but at the moment, the GGMC is unable to contact the man who is claiming to have lost his gold. Nevertheless, the fact that the man and his team are hurting several persons in the area shows that they are not aware of who exactly had robbed them, if indeed robbery had occurred.
Asked about the nearest police station to where the operation occurred, the source said Mabura is. However it was noted that that police station always has a crisis with ranks. The Chronicle was informed that there was a similar incident in the area recently, and the police at Mabura were unable to respond because of a shortage of ranks. It took the ranks from Linden to respond to the incident.
Andre Hardy had informed this publication that he reported the July 13 incident to the E and F Division headquarters at Eve Leary yesterday, and was advised that police would be sending a team into the area to have the matter addressed, and to execute arrests where necessary.