Having been robbed at least six times in 15 years, watched a bandit hold a gun to her son’s forehead and witnessed her pregnant daughter being shot in the leg, businesswoman Samdaye Ali is ready to close doors permanently.
The businesswoman, who along with her employees were robbed at gunpoint by four men on Sunday is preparing to close her businesses, effectively taking her away from the eyes of criminals.
Ali owns a liquor mart, grocery and other small businesses in Cunupia and employs about a dozen people from the community.
On Sunday, while at home behind her First Rounds Liquor Mart, which she owns, gunmen broke into the house, robbed her of valuables and threatened to kill her and her son and to rape a female employee.
Two of the men, who were identified yesterday as Alex Keagan, of Couva, and Stephen George, of Beverly Hills, Laventille, were killed in a shootout with police, while another was apprehended and a fourth escaped.
Visibly shaken and jumping at sudden sounds, Ali recalled her fears that she would have been murdered by the bandits.
Before the bandits could enter, they were spotted on the business’ surveillance system.
“We all ran upstairs and locked ourselves in bedrooms. One of them stayed downstairs and three of them came up and started breaking down the doors, demanding jewelry, money and a safe,” Ali said.
While this was happening, Ali’s son Imran was in a bedroom on his cell phone, giving information to a female operator after having called 999.
He calmly gave the woman the address and told her what was happening.
As he hid the phone under a pillow, just before one of the bandits broke into the room, the last thing he heard from the police line, was a comforting voice saying not to worry as everything would be okay.
Ali said the men asked specifically for her son and then made her and three other occupants of the house lie down. They threatened to kill her several times but finally aimed their weapons at her son.
Downstairs, one of the bandits, pretending to be an employee, sold beer to customers, before flipping a sign indicating that the business was closed.
One of the bandits upstairs ordered Imran to sit down with a pillow behind his head and cracked the gun.
“He told us they had killed a family in Bagaloo and they would kill us today. He said “watch this face good. It is the last face you will see,” Ali said.
As Imran begged for his life and prayed, the sound of police sirens was heard.
The bandits reacted by running to the front exit, only to see police officers there. They ran back upstairs and asked the family where the other exits were and after being directed, ran out the door.
Ali said they closed the door as soon as the bandits exited and soon heard the sound of gunfire.
“I am so grateful. I am so grateful that the police came in the time that they did.
“They moved really quickly and if it wasn’t for them we might have died,” she said.
Ali says she was still very much afraid and hopes to either sell the business or rent out the property.
“I can’t stay here. It is just too much.”
In 2007, in another robbery at her business in Enterprise, Ali’s daughter, who was then pregnant, was shot in the leg by bandits.
“They shattered the bone in her leg and the doctors had to place steel in. I can’t do this anymore. It isn’t safe.”
Chamber’s response
Chaguanas Chamber president Richie Sookhai said it was unfortunate that Ali felt that way.
He added: “The police are trying to curb the crime situation. They were able to be in time to stop the bandits on Sunday and they must be commended for that.
“We can see clearly Central Division Task Force doing their work in terms of carrying out immediate justice. Give them praise for speedy response.”
Sookhai said he would try to contact Ali to discuss some of the problems she may have had over the years but stressed that businesses needed to work with the police to make the borough safer.
“The task force should be congratulated. Crime has been curbed to a certain extent. There is still more to do in terms of having a safe borough but we all must work together,” he added.
Sookhai said he had discussed the crime situation with the new acting Senior Superintendent of the Central Division Jayson Forde as well as the mayor’s office and the National Operations Centre (NOC).
The NOC told the chamber there would be 300 new CCTV cameras installed in the borough soon to monitor a population of approximately 120,000 people.
“Business owners may become disenchanted but we must work together to build Chaguanas. We all have a part to play. We have lobbied very hard with the Central Division Task Force to beef up security in the area as well as traffic,” he said.