Three armed bandits invaded the Eccles, East Bank Demerara home of People’s Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary and former Minister of Home Affairs, Clement Rohee yesterday morning during which they assaulted two maids and carted off an undisclosed amount of cash and jewellery.
The attack occurred about 11 am at his Lots 6-7 Ixora Avenue, Eccles, EBD home. At the time of the incident, only the two maids were present since Rohee and his wife had already left for work.
The police last evening in a statement said that the bandits carted off a quantity of gold jewellery, several wrist watches and an undisclosed amount of cash, having assaulted and duct-taped the hands and feet of Rohee’s two domestic workers who alone were present at the time.
Enquiries revealed, the police say, that the two female victims aged 28 and 52 years respectively were in the lower flat of the building, when the suspects armed with hand guns entered an opened western door and demanded cash and jewellery which they denied having. As a result, they allegedly assaulted the victims, bound their hands and feet with duct tape, took them to the upper flat, ransacked the rooms and escaped with the valuables in a waiting motor car bearing registration number PRR 514.
Investigators are reviewing surveillance footage obtained. The car allegedly used was found parked on Croal Street, Georgetown and is in custody, the police said. The crime scene and vehicle were processed and several latent prints were uplifted from both. No arrests have been made.
Rohee explained to reporters yesterday that he left home around 9:30am for work, minutes after which he received a call from a neighbour informing him of the police presence in front his home
According to Rohee, the bandits easily gained entry into the tightly secured home since the grill to the back door was left opened by one of the maids. “They tied them up with duct tape and take them upstairs where they began demanding gold and jewellery but of course they don’t know about that”, Rohee said.
During the ordeal which lasted for about 20 minutes, he said the maids were assaulted and the men ransacked the entire house.
“They dealt them several cuffs and kicks about their bodies and ransacked the house before escaping with an undisclosed amount of cash including local and foreign currency and a quality of jewellery”, Rohee said.
He stressed that these kinds of incidents are prevalent in the Eccles area while noting, “not because it has touched me, but a significant number of people have come to recognise that the crime situation is becoming more or less intolerable”.
