Members of the Guyana Police Force yesterday continued their intensive search for the five prison escapees who have created havoc in and around the city since their escape on Mashramani Day.

The police believed they have cornered the bandits somewhere on the East Coast Demerara between La Bonne Intention (LBI) and Buxton where the men abandoned a Four Runner they had hijacked from a woman on Tuesday morning in front of the American School.

According to police they had a confrontation with the bandits at Buxton after they abandoned the vehicle and it is believed that one of the escapees, Dale Moore, was injured by police gunfire.

On Tuesday, the bandits, using a stolen car, had attempted to rob a resident in Section 'K' Campbellville but this bid was foiled after residents in the area opened fire on the bandits, riddling the car with bullet holes.

The bandits then fled and abandoned that car in Pike Street where they hijacked the Four Runner.

The car initially used by the bandits belonged to Marceline Basdeo, 23, of Leonora. West Coast Demerara, who along with 48-year-old managing director of Anral Shipping Company, Andre Ramphal went missing on Tuesday evening. However, they surfaced on Thursday unharmed.

The two were extensively questioned by the police and they reportedly said that they were kidnapped by four men who blindfolded them and bound them before dumping them in the washroom of an abandoned house in Bel Air.

They reportedly said that they were kidnapped in front of the Hotel Tower, put into the trunk of the car and driven around for about two hours before they were dumped. Some time after, Ramphal freed himself and contacted relatives. The two said they went into hiding at some relatives before contacting the police on Thursday morning. So far the two have declined to speak to the media on their experience.

This newspaper visited the area in Bel Air where the two told police they were taken. Three unoccupied houses were located, but persons in the area said they had seen nothing suspicious. They also said that no police had visited the area for the week.