$11.5M payroll heist…
Barama official, two others held
Kaieteur News, 12 July 2007
Police have detained a Barama Timber Company official, a Guyana
Forestry Commission employee, and a speedboat operator in connection
with Tuesday's $11.5 M payroll heist in the Essequibo River .
The three were occupants of the vessel which was allegedly attacked by
three masked men in the vicinity of Great Troolie Island .
Barama Company Chairman, Girwar Lalaram said yesterday that Project
Manager, Yhip Foo, 52; boat captain Ramkumar Rajkumar, 48; and Forestry
Ranger Dwayne Roberts, 24; have been in custody since Tuesday.
He said that the men are being questioned at the Anna Regina Police
Station.
“The matter is in the hands of the police. I have full confidence in
the police,” Lalaram told Kaieteur News.
Meanwhile, he has sent Barama's Chief Security Officer to Essequibo to
carry out a separate investigation for the company.
Kaieteur News understands that Yhip Foo, a Malaysian, has been with the
company for about a year.
Dwayne Roberts is one of two Guyana Forestry Commission employees who
are stationed at Buck Hall.
The boat that the men were in was chartered by Barama.
There were no security personnel on board to accompany the payroll, and
Lalaram conceded that the company will have to put security
arrangements in place for similar transactions.
“Definitely we have to look at alternative arrangements and take
precautions (but) we never thought that we would be attacked.
“We have to ensure the safety of the payroll and the safety of the
people who transport the payroll.”
He indicated that suggestions that the employees be paid by cheque
might be impractical.
The payroll was uplifted at Land Of Canaan and was being transported to
pay Barama employees at Buck Hall, which is located about half-a-mile
by boat from Parika.
The trio alleged that they were passing Great Troolie Island at around
11:00 hrs when they spotted another vessel which was moored in the
river.
Kaieteur News was told that the occupants of the other boat came up in
their craft and began to shoot in the air, forcing the victims to stop.
It is alleged that the bandits, two of them armed, then clambered
aboard and after gun-butting Rajkumar and relieving him of $15,000,
ordered the victims to lie facedown.
The robbers then placed the cash box and food supplies in their vessel,
and after disabling the victims' boat by taking out the engine lead,
sped away in the direction of Sans Souci, Wakenaam.
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