ACTING Commander of the Police ‘B’ Division Snr Supt Errol Watts has said that the police have “a handle” on the crime situation in Berbice, despite what is being reported in some sections of the media.

He explained that the division has recorded sporadic crimes, unlike what has obtained in any other division; and he assured citizens that the police are doing their best to oversee the division, much more so with assistance from members of the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) unit.

Watts reported that an officer and eight members of the SWAT team are based in Berbice, and their duties entail targeted raids and other special assignments.

He pointed out that members of the SWAT team are not on regular mobile patrol duty, but their presence is visible and citizens are aware they are in that division.

Watts said that from January 1 to July 31, 2015, some 20 robberies have been tallied, compared with 11 for the same period last year; while 54 robberies involving the use of firearms have been recorded for the same period this year, as against 32 last year.

The senior officer said the police are utilising mobile patrols much more in the evenings, and ranks are manning the telephones to take calls and receive directions, etc.

On August 16, 2015, members of a family were beaten and chopped when three masked men entered their home at Number Two Village, West Coast Berbice at about 03:00 hrs while they were preparing to go to the Rosignol stelling to sell fish.

Neeranie Kadir, 46, was gun-butted; had a gun forced into her mouth causing her to lose a tooth and was chopped multiple times to her body. One of her limbs was so badly chopped that the contusion affected the bone.
Her husband, fish vendor Abdool Kadir, 47, received head injuries and was chopped several times to the body as well.

Meanwhile, on August 5, 2015, armed robbers on the Corentyne invaded the home of a family of six after cutting a hole in the wooden wall at the side of the house. They carted off $100,000.

The home invaded belongs to a rice farmer. The building is said to be the former childhood residence of Vice President and Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan. It is located at # 48 Village, Corentyne, Berbice.

After gaining entry to the two-storey wooden building, the eight heavily armed bandits demanded money and valuables from the occupants: three children, an elderly woman and the couple.

Using the cover of darkness caused by a power outage, the men divided themselves into groups, and one of them stood on the roadway as a lookout person while the other went into the house.

They threatened to set alight the rice farmer’s wife, Indranie Takean, after dousing her with kero as they demanded money; but the bandits were forced to flee the scene into the backlands of Number 48 Village when the police showed up and traded gunfire with them.

The armed robbers managed to elude capture, whilst the police were forced to seek cover after their vehicle had been damaged by bullets from the group.

These are two of several armed robberies that occurred recently in the Police ‘B’ Division.

By Michel Outridge

**Please use pix of: Snr Supt Errol Watts