Law enforcement officials in Regions Five (Mahaica-Berbice) and Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) are investigating what has been reported as a “criminal network” in the county of Berbice.
This is according to Commander of “B” Division, Paul Langevine, who told Guyana Times International on Monday that the recent deaths of three bandits during a shootout with Police suggest that there is a networking system.
He explained that while this incident can help residents breathe sighs of relief, they must still be alert, since some of the recent gun-related robberies were reported to have more than three persons involved.
Commander Langevine said the success of the Police on Sunday was due to intelligence gathering.
“It all happened that way because of the intelligence information mainly. We got the information, we checked it out and confirmed that. We worked on it, and that’s what led to the incident where the three suspects were shot and killed after they engaged in a shootout with our ranks,” Langevine said.
He added that the SWAT team was not in that area at that time.The Guyana Police Force reported that, on Sunday,
ranks under the command of a senior officer ventured into the Mibicuri, Black Bush Polder area after receiving reports that “strange persons” were seen in those backlands. As the team approached the area, they came under rapid gunfire. This led to a return of fire, and the exchange lasted for about five minutes and resulted in the deaths of the three men.
Three haversacks containing jewellery, two bullet proof vests, five cellular phones, a solar charger, torch lights, a crowbar,
knife, cutlass, flash drive, duct tape, gloves, toques, a mask, tights with “eye holes”, 200 grams of cannabis, and
G$609,330 along with two foreign currency notes were found.
Also, near the bodies of the dead men, the Police discovered a pistol, two revolvers, a rifle, three magazines, 253 rounds of live ammunition and seven spent shells.
With regard to where the trio would have sourced the bullet proof vests and rifle from, Commander Langevine noted that it is too soon to conclude, but investigations into the matter are underway.
“We are not certain as to where they would have gotten them from. We collected two vests, but we don’t know if they are Police vests or not, but we are investigating. We will also check the firearms to see where they originated from as well. But for now it is too soon, and the work for us starts now,” he declared.In relation to the jewellery and other items discovered in the haversacks, Langevine noted that the robbery victims can visit the Police station(s) to claim their properties, but they would have to be able to “properly identify them.”
Meanwhile, a senior Police source told this newspaper that it appears as though the three dead suspects were being assisted in their attempts to evade the Police.
“You know, when the ranks got there, they also discovered fresh food there. It was warm…someone cooked chowmein; so it appears as if they were getting food,” the source added.
The three men, who were believed to be the executioners of the daring robberies on the Corentyne over the past weeks, were on Sunday afternoon shot dead during an exchange of gunfire in the backdam of Johanna, Black Bush Polder, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne).
The three men have been identified as: wanted murder suspect 32-year-old Kelvin Shivgobin, called “Kelly”; acquitted murder accused Ramnarine Jagmohan; and Sewchand Sewdat, called One Eye Pappy, all of Belvedere Village, Corentyne, Berbice.
Bandits have been reigning terror on residents of Berbice for months now, and have been successfully evading law enforcement officials. (Kristen Macklingam)
