Two gun-toting bandits operating out of Agricola, East Bank Demerara yesterday robbed a man of his firearm and later shot him in his shoulder during an attack at a restaurant in McDoom, which also saw the robbers relieving another man of four gold rings.

Up to press time last evening, Dajendra Khanai, 41, of Grove, East Bank Demerara was listed as being in a stable condition at the Georgetown Hospital. He is a foreman attached to the Prittipaul Fishing Complex at Ruimveldt.

Vishaul Bulkaran, another employee of the fishing complex told Stabroek News that he, Rickey Persaud, and Khanai were in the Highway Chinese Restaurant located on the McDoom Public Road when the robbers struck. According to Bulkaran, while in the restaurant two men came through the door. He said Khanai was drinking when the bandits whipped out their guns and ordered him not to move. Persaud, according to Bulkaran was near to Khanai and he was accosted by one of the gunmen and stripped of four gold rings and his cellular phone. The bandits then turned their attention to Khanai, shooting him in his left shoulder and then relieving him of his firearm and also his cellular phone.

The robbers then exited the shop and disappeared somewhere in the vicinity of Agricola. Bulkaran told Stabroek News that surprisingly the bandits did not bother with him. Workers at the restaurant said that Khanai was a regular patron. They said minutes after Khanai visited the restaurant yesterday the two bandits were seen lurking around. The workers said one of the men had even purchased two cigarettes. A worker said when she saw the men approaching the restaurant for the second time she knew something was amiss.

Bulkaran said once the bandits fled the scene, he and Persaud took Khanai to the hospital in a taxi. He said on their way they stopped at the Ruimveldt Police Station where a report was made. When Stabroek News visited McDoom yesterday police ranks were on the scene. They searched a few alleyways in McDoom and Agricola before returning to their base. The villages of Agricola and McDoom have become notorious for gun crimes in recent years. Several gunmen operating out of Buxton are said to have links to the villages. Up to press time no one had been arrested.