A goldsmith is counting losses in the region of $500,000, while his brother-in-law is nursing several wounds about his body after eight heavily-armed bandits launched two assaults on their Clifton Settlement, Corentyne home yesterday morning.

The bandits left Winston Rambarran's back studded with wounds and goldsmith Deonarine Rampersaud penniless. The gun-toting bandits staged the daring early-morning robbery around 12:30 am, Rampersaud told Stabroek News by telephone last evening.

The 30-year-old disclosed that the bandits attacked twice. The first one was foiled when he raised an alarm but the masked men later returned firing shots, unplugged electrical connections and broke down his door.

Rampersaud said he, Rambarran and his two children aged three and four years old, were at home when the first attack was launched. According to Rampersaud, whose wife was next door at her mother's, he heard his dogs barking and peered through a window to see two men in his yard and another two attempting to scale his fence.

Rampersaud said he immediately raised an alarm and the men who were already in the yard ran under his house and unscrewed the bulbs. The man said he continued to scream and the bandits then jumped over the fence and ran away.

A shaken Rampersaud said he felt good seeing the bandits running away and thought they were petty thieves. "So I come downstairs and was speaking to my mother-in-law and wife next door when all of a sudden I see a set a men coming up to me." This time they came armed with rifles and shotguns. The men also carried knives and small implements, Rampersaud observed.

Once in front of Rampersaud's yard a barrage of gunshots went off, some shattering his window panes while others hit his roof.

"I run out me yard and went over by me mother-in-law hiding."

From his mother-in-law's house Rampersaud saw the eight bandits climb over his gate before knocking down the front door and entering the house.

By now, Rambarran and the children were awake and they ran into a room and locked themselves in.

He said some of the bandits had started to ransack the house, but the others appeared angered by Rambarran's action and they proceeded to kick down the door. When they succeeded, they beat him severely about the body.

"All over me head, these men lashed me, all over me back and even me eyes them men really beat," a terrified Rambarran remembered. He told Stabroek News that while beating him the bandits enquired where Rampersaud was and when he refused to tell them he was kicked, slapped and gun-butted. After about 15 minutes of torture, Rambarran said, he decided to escort the bandits to Rampersaud. However, while walking out the room, Rambarran said he cried out and the bandits decided to leave taking with them gold jewellery and raw gold to the value of $500,000 and an undisclosed sum of cash which they had already unearthed in their ransacking of the house.

Neighbours who had all locked their doors in fear when the shooting started, then began to emerge.

Rampersaud said he rang the police at Whim station soon after but got no response. He decided to visit and found one policeman who declined to go with him to his home. Rampersaud left the station and was later visited by a few policemen around 3 am.

The ranks, according to a press release from the Police Public Relations Department recovered one 16-gauge cartridge at the scene.

Rampersaud who said he was now penniless remarked that it was the first time he had been robbed. He said the area was infested with criminals of all kinds and suggested that the police do more patrols.

Up to late last night, Rampersaud said he was afraid to stay in his house and was contemplating moving out. Over recent months, both East and West Berbice have seen an upsurge in criminal activities. (Nigel Williams)