…were forced to rob other boatsBy Brushell BlackmanThe fishermen who were abducted by pirates were released unharmed but not before they were forced to loot other boats along the waterway by the four masked pirates.The two men are Bevon Wickham, 35 of 291 Bachelor’s Adventure and Kamalodeen Nazrudeen, of 539 Good Hope, East Coast Demerara.As fate would have it, a cellular phone that belonged to one of their colleagues, was found onboard the abandoned vessel and it was used to contact family and friends.By way of the same mobile phone the men told Kaieteur News that they were assured by the pirates that everything will be alright if they co-operated.According to Nazrudeen, although they were given this assurance, he was still fearful for his life. “Although they tell me that, I still did studying bout me life.”Nazrudeen said that they were forced to rob three other fishing boats along the way, while the armed men looked on.According to the two men,Jerseys NFL Wholesale, the pirates stole a large quantity of fish from the boats and damaged the engine so that they could not be followed.The men said that they were released some time before midnight Wednesday after the third boat was robbed. They said that soon after,Andrew Franks Dolphins Jersey, they were dumped on that third boat which had its engine damaged.The men said that their vessel ‘Prince Omar’ was taken away by the pirates and they were left stranded with the other fishermen on the other boat.According to Nazrudeen,Cheap Jerseys From China, they drifted for hours as it was dark and they had no means of communication. It was some time early the next morning that they were rescued by a passing vessel.The two ‘Prince Omar’ crew members subsequently went in search of the said vessel that was abandoned and found it close to Suriname with a small amount of its original catch, its fuel, seine and other items looted.The men opined that the pirates were unable to take the entire catch and the engine since they had a small boat and they were already stocked up from the earlier robberies. According to Nazrudeen,Nike NFL Jerseys China, the pirates were not novices since they ensured that they said little and they impressed upon the fishermen not to look at them.He said another observation that led them to believe that the pirates are no first timers, was that they did not take any of the boats that they robbed since this could have blown their cover.‘Prince Omar’ and its two crew members have since returned to Georgetown, but they are unsure how soon they will return to those treacherous waters.It was Wednesday last around 19:00 hours that the fishermen were plying their trade on the waters between the Guyana and Suriname borders when they were attacked by four masked pirates.During the ordeal, two of the fishermen, Venkataraguvan Raghnauth, 29 of 61 Doctor Miller Street, Triumph; and Shaheed Ahamed, 39 of Vigilance,Jerseys Cheap NFL, were shot with pellets.Two crew members, Bevon Wickham and Kamalodeen Nazruden, were taken hostage along with their vessel.In the meantime, Raghnauth who had 20 pellets in his body was released from hospital,Authentic Jerseys Sale, with the pellets still lodged.According to his mother, Welema Raghnauth, the man is in severe pain but he is trying to remove the pellets by himself.Over the past year, several piracy incidents have occurred along the Corentyne River, resulting in the death of a number of fishermen. In one incident two suspected pirates and a police rank were killed in a shootout at the Cromarty foreshore. |