A livestock dealer and his family were robbed of more than $4.1 million in cash and jewellery after five masked bandits stormed their home in No. 1 Village, Corentyne, Berbice, on Monday night.
Narinedat Ramnarine, 51, his wife, two daughters and three grandchildren — a three-year-old boy and two seven-year-old girls — were at home when the armed men struck at around 8:30pm, threatening the family with guns and cutlasses, assaulting the adults and ransacking the home in search of cash and valuables.
Ramnarine said the ordeal began after he heard screams outside the house and went to investigate, only to be confronted by masked men armed with firearms and cutlasses.
“They ordered me to lie face down on the ground. I couldn’t do anything. They beat me about my back, hips and head before forcing me inside the house,” he said.
He said the bandits repeatedly demanded money and forced him to lead them to where he kept cash from his livestock business.
“They kept asking, ‘Where the money is?’ They made me kneel and crawl into the room. They threw out clothes searching everywhere before taking about $4.1 million in cash,” he said, explaining that he routinely keeps large sums on hand to purchase cattle, sheep and goats.
His daughter, Jayadevi Ramnarine, 30, said she was downstairs with her mother and two children when the attackers entered the yard.
“My mother ran towards the neighbour shouting for help. I started shouting ‘Thief! Thief!’ but one of the men rushed to me and ordered me to keep quiet,” she said.
She said the bandits forced her to lie on the ground while others ransacked the house, and she could hear them beating her father as they demanded money.
Jayadevi said she was slapped repeatedly and struck with a cutlass while trying to protect her children, and alleged that one of the attackers struck one of the children, leaving a minor injury to the child’s finger.
The bandits also robbed the women of their gold jewellery, including an anniversary ring valued at about $112,000 pulled from Jayadevi’s finger, and earrings and two gold rings taken from her sister.
Before fleeing, the bandits demanded car keys and fired several rounds in the yard, shattering the windscreen of one vehicle and leaving bullet impact marks on its bonnet, while a second vehicle sustained a bullet mark on its rear passenger-side door.
Ramnarine alleged that police took about half an hour to respond after being contacted by relatives and neighbours, and that officers who indicated they would return the following morning to canvass the area and review CCTV footage did not do so. He said it was only after a relative found spent shells on the roadway and alerted police that an officer returned to collect them as evidence.
The family is appealing for a thorough investigation, saying they remain traumatised and fearful that the perpetrators remain at large.
