Armed bandits rob Corentyne vendor

By: Andrew Carmichael 

Some ten weeks after her husband died, a Corentyne roadside vendor was met with another tragedy when two armed bandits last evening robbed her of her day’s earnings.

The robbery occurred shortly before 20:00hrs.

Basmattie Mangru called “Hanna” a vendor of Alness Village, Corentyne said she was attending to a customer when the bandits pounced on her.

Both of them were masked, and one carried a handgun.

“I hear a gunshot fire, and then another one and one more. When I turned around I saw a masked man stand up next to me.”

“He didn’t say anything to me he just stretched out his hand. I had a bag hanging up with some things inside and he stretched and took down the bag. He pulled my apron and I told him to hold on, and I took my hand and started to lose it. I told him I was going to give it to him and while I was losing it, he just pull it off.”

Not only was the vendor robbed of her day’s sales, but personal cash she had in her handbag. She was robbed of approximately $160,000.

“They just walk in like that and put the gun to my side, they didn’t do me anything else.”

The incident occurred while there were three customers at the stand.

Mangru said the police were quick to respond but the bandits had been long gone.

Mangru, who has been vending for some 30 years, recently lost her husband. She is now a single mother of two.

“My husband died ten weeks ago and I have two children; both going to school, so I sell here for a daily living,” she said.

Police are investigating the incident.