– villagers of Achiwib fear gang members

FOLLOWING another recent attack, police on Thursday night arrested three members of a suspected cattle-rustling gang at the village of Achiwib in the South Rupununi, but residents fear that other members of the gang may harm them for exposing their illegal acts.

Over the past several months, the village heard has been depleting, mainly at the hands of rustlers and reports are that the gang’s activities were exposed on Thursday when two residents discovered the severed heads of nine cows, minus other parts of the animals’ bodies.

Toshao of Achiwib, Vanessa Richards, told the Guyana Chronicle that she received a report around 15:00hrs on Thursday of the discovery, which was made near a creek along the roadway to the village. “Some were fresh and others seemed like they killed these animals days earlier,” she said.

Richards said the villagers suspected it was the work of several known individuals, mainly young men in their early 20s, who reside at Achiwib. She said she telephoned the sergeant at the Aishalton Police Station and several police ranks immediately travelled the one-and-a-half-hour trip to Achiwib by road.

The police and villagers surrounded the men’s hideout shortly after nightfall on Thursday and three men were arrested. Richards said they were taken to Aishalton and she also travelled to the police station to give a statement.

She said she was told that other members of the gang went to the home of the gang’s leader and made threats to her life as well as other residents. “We believe that these men usually hide out during the day because they have these motorbikes they use and commit

the acts at nighttime,” she said.
Richards expressed fear, noting that sometime last week, one of the men was observed by a resident circling her home on a motorcycle. She said the men were arrested in the past for the same offence but would often be released on bail. “When they get release hey go back and do the same thing,” she said.

“I believe something has to be done,” Richards said, noting that she plans to inform the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs and the higher authorities of the Guyana Police Force of the residents’ position on the issue.