Ralph Banwarie
A Pinto Road, Arima teen has been arrested for the brazen armed robbery at a supermarket along the Eastern Main Road, Maturita Village, on Saturday night which left the guard dead and three injured. Four unmasked bandits walked into Cantonese Superstore shortly after 8.15 pm and pretended to be customers just before closing time.
After walking through the store they approached the cashier and other workers and customers and whipped out guns. Police said a mini-machine gun and pistols were used by the killers.
Police said before the men began to rob the grocery, one remaining customer noticed what was about to happen and attempted to run. He was shot in the leg.
The other bandits on hearing the gunshot came to the front of the store and opened fire hitting 15-year-old Mark Leequay, an employee, in his hip, and a female cashier, Xiao Zhen, 26, was shot in the buttocks as she tried to run.
Vijay Maharaj, 29, who was unarmed, was shot three times to the chest and abdomen as he sat near the exit of the grocery. His murder takes the growing toll to 319 for the year.
Customer 39-year-old Keith Thomas of D’Abadie was shot in the left foot. The three injured were taken to Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Mt Hope where they remain warded in a stable condition.
After the shooting the four bandits ran from the grocery without taking anything. Police said they have useful CCTV footage from the business which can help them solve the crime.
Speaking in an interview at the family’s Gordon Miller Road, North Oropouche, Sangre Grande home, Maharaj’s sister Cindy Maharaj, said the family heard of his death while at a prayer meeting at a temple in Sangre Grande. She said that Maharaj was a single man who adopted his nephew and four nieces as his own.
One niece, Sulena Maharaj, nine, said her uncle was a “very loving and kind hearted person.” Neighbours also said Maharaj was a kind man who was always respectful towards them. Some of Maharaj’s co-workers also gathered at the family’s home.
Janelle John, a resident of Maturita, who lives near the supermarket, described Maharaj as a “nice man.” She said that had it not been for the tardiness of her friend, identified only as “Mud” she would have been in the grocery during the robbery.
“Why shoot the man, he just have a baton? They shoot helter skelter. I will be hesitant to shop there after it re-open,” John said.
John said since the beginning of the year, Maturita became “hot” with criminals targeting bars and groceries in the area.
John said despite the escalating crime, there is nothing anyone can do as “these is perilous times and no government can’t stop these things because God is coming just now”.