Known characters among persons questioned

THE police between Thursday last and Monday questioned approximately 12 persons in connection with the robbery at the Alexander Village gold establishment of Theresa Imtikhab Ali where six persons were robbed.

Approached for a comment on Tuesday, Commander of ‘A’ Division Clifton Hicken told this newspaper that persons were arrested and taken into custody, with some of them being kept overnight as the matter continues to be investigated.
He told the Chronicle that among those questioned and placed on identification parades were persons who are known to the police, but when they were placed on either of the two identification parades none of them were identified by victims of the robbery.
On Thursday last, six persons including a husband and wife were held up at gunpoint by three bandits who entered the establishment even as another one waited outside in a car. One of the bandits was identified as a female, while the others were said to be male.
Theresa Ali, 38 years, a housewife and her husband Imtikhab Ali, 39, a goldsmith, were pounced on by the bandits just around 11.30 hrs on Thursday morning while customers were in their establishment, Kumar Jewellery. The woman was upstairs in her living quarters while her husband was downstairs with workers and customers.
Speaking with the Guyana Chronicle on Friday, Crime Chief Leslie James confirmed that the incident did take place and that during the incident, the couple were relieved of millions, while other goldsmiths who were in the shop working at the time as well as customers were relieved of their belongings and valuables.
The bandits also took away a .32 firearm, according to the crime chief. Asked if any of the bandits were masked, James related two of the bandits were unmasked while the other was masked. He said that while the men robbed the persons who were present at the Lot 4 First Street, Alexander Village property which houses the businessplace and living quarters of the couple, the woman used duct tape to bind her victims.
By Friday two males and a female had been detained, but at this point no one is in custody since the 72-hour detention period is over and the police do not have much to tie the suspects to the crime. The police did profile those who were brought in for questioning and some fingerprints were taken.
In addition to the husband and wife who were robbed, the four other persons whom the bandits took items from included 30- year- old Charrandat Paul of Block 12 Non Pareil, East Coast Demerara; he was robbed of a Nokia cellphone worth $66.000. Thirty- year-old goldsmith Ricky Ronald of 93 First Street, Grove, East Bank Demerara, was robbed of two gold rings valued at $70.000 and a Samsung mobile phone.
The other two persons who were also present in the goldshop and were robbed are Latiff Persaud, a 22-year-old goldsmith of 18 First Street, Alexander Village, who was robbed of a mobile phone and a silver band. Pooran Ramoutar on the other hand, 32- year- old manager of another gold establishment and of 19 First Street, Alexander Village, was robbed of eight pennyweights of 14- karat gold, valued at $40,000 and three pennyweights of 12- karat gold, worth $16,000.

(By Leroy Smith)