MOTOR cyclist Latchman Samaroo of 270 West Ruimveldt Housing Scheme is now warded at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) with a fractured right ankle.The injury was sustained last Wedesday night during an encounter with four men, who ambushed and physically assaulted him outside the Amerindian Hostel on Princes Street, Werk-en-Rust.

The 53-year-old recalls riding past the Amerindian Hostel at about 01:00 hrs the morning, on his way home, when the men who had secluded themselves in empty stalls outside the hostel pounced on him.

Samaroo said that as the men advanced towards him, he temporarily froze. He stopped his motorcycle, got off, and pretended not to be afraid. He asked the men, “So, is what you all going on with?” even as one of them, who had a piece of wood in his hand, advanced towards him while another brandished a weapon.

Samaroo says that, until now, he cannot say whether it was a toy gun or a real gun, and whether it was loaded or not, but one of the men attempted to run through his pockets and, outraged, he impulsively dealt the man a punch. The three others, including the one carrying the gun, advanced further, and one declared: “Red, this man strong; leh we bruck he foot.”

In response, the one with the wood dealt him a lash across the ankle, causing him to buckle; and as he fell to the ground, they ran through his pockets, emptying it of all they could find.

A security guard employed with ‘Beck’s, on the other side of the road, began hurling bricks at the gang, and managed to disperse them. They jumped on two pedal cycles and rode off, taking with them Samaroo’s two rings and his wallet which contained about $10,000 cash; his cellular phone; his Identification Card; driver’s licence; NIS card; his keys and cellular phone among other things.

Persons who came to Samaroo’s rescue summoned the police, who conducted investigations and transported him to the Georgetown Public Hospital.

Although writhing with pain on a hospital bed, Samaroo remains deeply troubled over the loss of his documents, in particular, since at every turn he needs them to transact business.

Invariably, petty thieves toss aside people’s wallets containing documents after emptying them of cash, but Latchman Samaroo is appealing to anyone who may have found his wallet and documents in the streets to turn them over to the nearest police station.