– Top Cop

INVESTIGATIONS into an alleged armed robbery committed on Wednesday last on a Banks DIH delivery truck have revealed that that robbery was staged, acting Police Commissioner David Ramnarine has revealed.

At a press conference held on Saturday, the Top Cop said, “In essence, this was a staged robbery. The driver in particular, who (was) in collusion with criminal elements, staged that robbery, (wherein) $985,000 in cash was stolen.”

Truck driver Trevor Thom, of West Ruimveldt, Georgetown, had told the police that the robbery occurred at about 19:00hrs on the Beterverwagting Public Road, East Coast Demerara. He claimed that he and two porters were robbed of a sum of money by three males, one of whom was armed with a handgun.

The employees of Banks DIH Limited allege that they were in the company’s vehicle, proceeding west when they were intercepted by a dark-coloured motor car which suddenly stopped in front of their vehicle, causing theirs to do likewise. The men then exited their car, approached the Banks vehicle and relieved the occupants of the cash they were carrying, after which the men placed a piece of cloth over the faces of the occupants of the truck, causing them to lose consciousness.

They claimed that, at about 20:30hrs, they woke up in the back of the truck, bound with duct tape, and were subsequently freed by a passer-by who heard them banging on the walls of the truck. Their location then was the Enmore Railway Embankment, East Coast Demerara.

The driver remains in police custody.