ONE year after he was acquitted of a double murder, 29-year-old Jason Howard aka “Smelly” of Independence Boulevard, Albouystown, was arrested on Friday for robbery under arms.
Police said the gunpoint robbery was committed on Chinese national, Zhenfa, a businessman of Vryheid’s Lust East Coast Demerara (ECD). The incident occurred at around 21:05 hrs on Friday at the An Sheng Supermarket at Kuru Kururu, Soesdyke-Linden Highway.

According to the police, the robbery was committed by three identifiable males.
A team of police officers from the Timehri Police Station arrived at the scene around 21:40 hrs on Friday. It was noted that Zhenfa had been running his supermarket with the help of several staff members, and was in the process of closing for the day.

At this time, the suspects entered the supermarket and the male armed with the handgun held everyone at gunpoint and stood guard at the northern door.
The other two suspects went behind the cashier counter and took $500,000 in cash, $150,000 in GTT and Digicel phone cards and three bottles of Henessy from the shelf.

Shortly after, some public-spirited citizens went to help the victims.
Upon seeing this, the suspects ran out of the supermarket, making good their escape, running in an eastern direction, while discharging several rounds.

Checks were made in the area, and one of the suspects, Howard, was arrested. He was wearing the same clothing seen in CCTV footage at the time of his arrest. Checks were made for the other two suspects, but they were not located. Investigations are ongoing.

Last year October, Howard and his two co-accused were acquitted of the murders of elderly rice-farming couple, Mohamed Munir and his wife, Bibi Jamila, who were burnt to death in their Good Hope, East Bank Essequibo (EBE) home. In 2019, Howard was jailed for 12 months for robbing a fruit vendor. He was previously charged with robbery under arms and attempted murder.