…during robbery at Port Mourant

A Port Mourant Corentyne businessman was gunned down in his grocery store Sunday evening by bandits who invaded his premises. Dead is Rampersaud  Shivcharran called Rakesh. He was reportedly shot in the chest and head. Reports are that around 19:00h a customer walked into the man’s business place-Debbie’s Grocery and Off license Liquor Restaurant at Ankerville Port Mourant only to see the bloodied body of the shopkeeper on the ground with his two young crying over him in a pool of blood. He immediately raised an alarm and the police were summoned who arrived a few minutes later only to confirm that the shop keeper is dead.

According to a close family member, Rakesh opted to keep his business open even though there was a blackout. He was using candles to sell rather than starting his generator. It was during this period that three men reportedly went into the shop and demanded money. He reportedly resisted and was shot point blank. Unconfirmed reports are that the perpetrators left without any cash or valuables as there was still money in the drawer from the day’s sale. Shivcharran was a father of four with two older children residing overseas. His wife Debbie was visiting overseas while the two younger kids stayed with him due to examinations at school.

According to a relative this is the third robbery on the business place since it was opened a few years ago. The body was removed by Ramoo’s Funeral Parlour approximately three hours after the incident when the police concluded their crime scene investigation. Meanwhile, resident who gathered at the scene were very vocal about the increased crime rate and are calling on the Minster of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan to act swiftly to get a handle on the situation. Two weeks ago another business owner was shot in front of his business place in nearby Rose Hall Town and he succumbed at the Georgetown Public Hospital a few days later.

Only last week Ramjattan during a visit to Berbice assured the business community there that a series of measures have been put in place to tackle the upsurge in criminal activities. While he did not outline what these measures were, Ramjattan insisted that Government will start with ensuring that a more professional Guyana Police Force was created through the weeding out of what he described as “rogue cops”. The Minister said moves were being made to clamp down on criminal activity in the country and the Police were also on the agenda. “We will be weeding out corrupt cops.” Ramjattan said the Administration has adopted a hard-line, zero-tolerance approach against that type of wrongdoing as it sought to make communities safer. However, he noted that there was need for communities to provide information and also to be fearless and speak out so that such ills could be removed.  Asked to comment on the recent escape of a prisoner who was being held at the Number 51 Police Station Lock-ups and who escaped while two officers were on duty, Minister Ramjattan said the Police Force was not made up of perfect men and women and so there would be lapses. “But we will have to tighten up on all of those. All the rogue cops we have to knock them off; we have to get rid of all the bad cops,” he added.

In noting that there has been an upsurge in criminal activity, the Public Security Minister said the Ministry has employed a series of measures to tackle crime. While admitting that he could not pronounce on the causes of the recent upsurge in murders, break-and-enters, piracy and armed robberies which have been making headlines in the local media on a daily basis, Minister Ramjattan said there were some elementary underlining causes of crime.  These, he outlined, included poverty, a deficit in moral values, drunkenness and drug abuse.