Gang in latest Annandale attack eluded army, barriers
Stabroek News
February 13, 2003
The five gunmen who attacked and injured 59-year-old minibus operator, David Balram in front of his home on Nkrumah Street, Annandale South, are believed to have escaped through an adjoining street connecting the village to Buxton.
Balram was shot in his right arm at about 12.30 pm on Tuesday, but escaped serious injury and is now recovering. Questions have again been raised as to why the army, which is patrolling this area, has not been able to intercept these gangs prior to, or after the commission of these crimes.
The army and the police had pledged a stepped up campaign in the area and barriers have also been erected by the state at some points to impede the movement of criminal gangs.
Balram told Stabroek News on Tuesday that he had returned home from work and had just locked his gate when the five young men appeared, demanding to be let in.
“I was in my yard, I had just locked the gate, when these five bandits came to my gate and said, ‘Don’t move!’ They say, ‘Open the gate!’ and I said I am not going to open my gate,” Balram recalled.
He said all this time one of the men had a gun trained at him. When he refused to do as they said, the gunman opened fire hitting him in the right arm as he dashed up his stairs, and piercing a wall of the house.
The attack took place just a few feet west of where a galvanised-sheet fence is located - erected by villagers to divide Annandale from Buxton.
The gunmen are said to have walked away following the attack at Balram’s home and it is believed that they made their way from Nkrumah street south into Corny Street, which runs parallel and leads into Buxton. No fences have been erected at the Annandale\Buxton intersection there and gangs are said to move through Corny Street, from where they scale backyard fences and make their way into adjoining streets.
A resident told Stabroek News that because of this it has become necessary to keep their gates padlocked at all times during the day.
One family in Nkrumah Street, just two houses away from where Balram resides, is said to have vacated their house because of the frequency of attacks.
Balram told Stabroek News that Tuesday’s incident was the second since the start of the year. He said just last month he was chased up his stairs by a man who attempted to rob him.
Balram said he ran into the house and threw the bars on the door, leaving the attacker kicking on the outside.
Armed gangs, said to be operating from within the Buxton\Friendship area, have perpetrated numerous attacks on Annandale and other neighbouring villages such as Non Pariel and Strathspey.
