|
– escape with $$M in bootyA woman who had been in the jewellery business for over 20 years got a shock of her life earlyOwner of Cosmopolitan Jewellery, Radica Samuelsyesterday morning when she turned up at her Stabroek Market stall to find that every valuable item in the stall was gone.Owner of Cosmopolitan Jewellery, Radica Samuels,Wholesale Jerseys, said she made the discovery at around 09:00 hours yesterday. Samuels said when she turned up at her stall and was opening the door she immediately realized that something was wrong. The break-in occurred sometime on Monday night as the woman had secured her business that afternoon.“Normally when we leaving the afternoon before we turn off all the lights, but as soon as we open the door we noticed that a light was on and we peep inside and then we see the safe wide open.”The woman said after she got the door open she realized that her business place had been robbed of every possible valuable item.A tearful Samuels said she had a large amount of cash as well as gold in the safe, along with all of the gold and diamond jewellery.“Everything gone. Every piece of jewellery. Not even an earring I can find on the floor. They took everything. I don’t know how I can start back,Wholesale NFL Jerseys,” Samuels lamented.The woman said about 15 years ago her business suffered a similar fate but at that is time she was able to rebuild her business.“At this moment I don’t know what to do I don’t know what I will do. Starting over is hard now with the gold prices, and this now means that I’m in debt,Wholesale China Jerseys, because I had jewellery for people who brought their stuff to repair.”The perpetrators reportedly made their way into the premises by cutting through a metal roof and then through a wooden ceiling. The businesswoman questioned whether the robbery was an inside job since,Wholesale Stitched Jerseys, according to her,Wholesale Jerseys China, security guards responded to the alarm going off, but were told by City Constables that they could not enter the market.“I can’t believe this,Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping, these people use a torch to cut the metal plate at the top. You mean to tell me the city constables didn’t hear the noise? And secondly, how these people enter the market with the equipment to cut?” Samuels asked.The woman said she was informed by MMC Security officials that the alarm to her stall went off and they responded promptly. However,Cheap NFL Jerseys, they were denied entry by the city constables on duty. When this publication visited the scene yesterday the market was shut tight and the gates guarded by armed constables. This did not go down well with other stall owners who felt that this should have been the case before the robbery. By noon yesterday, police had already taken fingerprints from the glass cases which were in the premises.“Why they locking up now? What they hope to find? All this security should be at the market nighttime to protect people’s property. We pay large fees and we get poor service,” one male stall owner lamented. Another questioned whose stall would be next since he feels their assets are not properly protected at night given the fact that a break-in of that magnitude occurred while city constables were on duty.One of the two safes which were cut openKaieteur News understands that police officials are spearheading the investigation and are likely to question the city constables who were on dutyContacted yesterday, City Hall’s Public Relations Officer Royston King defended the on-duty constables.According to King, preliminary investigations indicated that the burglary was an ‘inside job.’“We suspect that what happened was done by someone secluded inside the market. The thieves could have secluded themselves (overnight) in another stall and just waited for the market to open next day.“We had situations where stallholders broke into the stalls of other stallholders. This appears to be an inside job and we have called in the Guyana Police Force to assist with investigations.”King said investigations also suggest that the thieves also hid their equipment overnight in the market.“We have scoured the market and have not found the torch and other equipment…it may have been stashed away in another stall.”He revealed that there was a similar burglary on Monday night at the Bourda Market, but that the items have been recovered. He added that investigators believe that they know who the perpetrators are.King also said he had not received any report that personnel from a security firm were denied entry to the market after turning up at the scene.“We have no such information. The information that we have is that the security firm were not aware (of the burglary) until the next day.”The City Hall spokesman explained that in the past, the city constables were posted inside the markets, but this ceased due to “all kinds of allegations” that were leveled against the constables.On loiterers and criminal elements in the markets, King said that City hall had raised this issue “many statutory meetings ago.”He said that the City Hall is “poorly resourced” but is trying its best despite the constraints. |
|