POLICE have arrested the driver of the Professional Guard Service (PGS) armoured vehicle that came under attack during an attempted robbery at the Demerara Bank Ltd. on Camp Street, Georgetown on Sunday night.The Guyana Chronicle has been reliably informed that the cellphone records of the PGS team have since been reviewed, and police are looking at the incident from all possible angles to ascertain whether it was an ‘inside job’ gone wrong.

The PGS team has submitted statements to the police as the investigation widens. The owner of the car used in the foiled robbery cannot be located, but it was reported to the police that the car in question had been hijacked in July this year.

Security guards attached to the PGS came under heavy gunfire from bandits on Sunday night as they were about to make a late night deposit. Police, in a statement, reported that three private security guards attached to the Professional Guard Service displayed bravery while on duty at about 23:45h on Sunday night. In the process, they received gunshot injuries and were hospitalized in stable condition.

The security guards, two males and a female, had just collected various amounts of cash for night safe deposit at Demerara Bank Ltd., and while in the process of exiting the armoured vehicle they were in, gunmen in a motor car drove up and opened fire on them, police said.

The security guards adopted tactical positions and returned fire, forcing the motor car to speed away. The car has since been recovered in the Durban Backlands area with evidence that it had been involved in an exchange of gunfire. A quantity of spent shells and five live rounds of .38 ammunition were recovered at the scene at Demerara Bank Ltd., whilst spent shells were found in the motor car at Durban Backlands.

The shooting occurred when the PGS armoured vehicle arrived at the bank, and the guards, including the one with the bag of cash, exited the vehicle to make the deposit. The bandits ordered the guards to hand over the bag, but the alert Nicholas De Clou threw the bag containing the money into the vehicle and engaged the bandits in an exchange of gunfire. He sustained gunshot injury, but the bandits were forced to retreat empty-handed in the ensuing gunfight.

According to reports, before the shooting, the getaway car, a Toyota 212, had been observed circling the area where the bank is located, and was eventually parked on Croal Street.