After spending some nine long months in Guyana, I get a feeling that the only way to solve the problem is to request us and Canadian government to issue around 450,000 visas to Indians .The Indians are not feeling that Guyana is their mother land 

Debra Persaud said that around 19:30 hrs she was sitting in a hammock in front of the wholesale business outlet at Third Street when she saw five strange looking men walking towards her.

She said she alerted her husband, Deoraj Jagdeo, telling him that the men looked like thieves.

No sooner had Jagdeo emerged from inside his store than the men attacked him, lashing him on the back with a cutlass.

Continuous blows followed, Jagdeo told the Chronicle.

Persaud said she also received lashes from the cutlass, including one across her chest.

One of the five men stood in front of the store.

According to eyewitnesses, he had one gun each in his two hands, while two others were strapped about his waist.

Jagdeo's brother, Jerry, was just opposite where the robbery was taking place and he soon saw what was going on.

He pelted a `good size brick' at the man who was beating Persaud.

The man with the gun started firing in Jerry's direction and he constantly dodged the bullets, which shattered the glass on the right side doors of his car.

Jerry said he continued to hurl stones as he wanted to prevent the man from going towards a parked mini-bus, which his niece was in.

The businessman's employee, Hemchand Manbodh suffered the same fate.

A security guard who was in the shop at the time was also beaten, and his money and jewellery stolen.

According to Persaud, she had put together $416,000 to deposit in the bank on Friday, but she ran late, having had to take care of relatives who arrived in the country that morning.

The bandits took off with that money and other valuables belonging to the family.

Jagdeo said the stolen cash was what he collected from two days' sales.

He imports dry goods for wholesale.

When the men calmly walked away from the area, Jerry said he was about to enter his car when neighbours told him that his right foot was bleeding.

Then is when he found out that he had been shot in his right leg. He was taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) for treatment and was home yesterday.

Irate residents said they called the Ruimveldt Police Station when the incident was ongoing, but they were informed that the station does not take reports over the phone.

"When bullets firing all about, who they (the Police) expect to go to the station?", one woman angrily asked.

Jagdeo said that after the incident Friday night, two Policemen showed up at their place and casually talked to them.

According to Persaud, Randy and Hemchand were told to go and take a medical at the GPHC, but they soon left as no consideration was shown to their disposition at the time and they were asked to sit and wait on a countless number of persons.

Jagdeo said he was told not to open his store until the Police returned.

However, up until 13:00 hrs yesterday, no Police rank had visited, he said.