Strathspey residents protest against army
-following failed kidnapping of girl
By Samantha Alleyne
Students of the Strathspey Primary School and residents protested yesterday following the attempted kidnapping of a student on Wednesday by two men who entered the school building and snatched the 11-year-old girl.

The students, most of whom are in Level Four, the same level as the child who escaped her kidnappers, held placards and chanted outside the school calling for the army to leave the area and President Jagdeo to demit office for failing to tackle the crime situation.
They were supported by their parents and other residents who placed obstacles on the main road, School road, which they claim is used as a getaway route by bandits. The residents said that since the surrounding villages had placed barricades on most of their main roads, bandits were now in the habit of using that road to commit their acts and escape.
Yesterday the students, some of whom were in uniform, had placards calling for 24-hour protection.
“24 hour protection for children”, “Crime must come to an end”, “Army must go, police must stay”, “No children, no future”, “Govern-ment dragging foot on crime situation”, “Indian people must be respected” and “Robbery day in, night in” read some of the placards held up by the students.
Residents made several allegations against members of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) who they claim are not doing enough to protect them from criminals.

The students told Stabroek News that following the attempted kidnapping of their colleague they were afraid to go the school which was without any protection.
They walked up and down in front of the school’s-building chanting sometimes for the army to go and the police to stay, or on other occasions for Jagdeo to go.
Recalling what transpired on Wednesday one of the students said that they were in the classroom when the two men entered. He said one of the men asked for “Motti daughter” and no one res-ponded, but somehow the men recognised the girl and one of them grabbed her. The child said that the girl started to scream and held on to the furniture but the man wrenched her away and left the building. She described how the remaining students in the class started to scream and said that some of them had to be comforted by teachers.
Headmaster Basdeo Singh, who has only been at the school for three weeks, said he was in his office when the incident occurred.
He said when he went to the door he saw the two men, one of whom was armed, and the other carrying the screaming girl in his arms. Singh said as the two men rushed out of the school-building he went to the window and screamed out to residents.
Singh said that a plumber who was in the school compound at the time and who had his car rushed to the vehicle and drove behind the men who had been joined by another.
He said a few minutes later he saw the child running back to the school screaming.
Yesterday when Stabroek News visited the child’s home her parents were reluctant to speak about the issue except to say that the child was safe. They said that they did not receive any threats prior to the incident and were alarmed that the girl was singled out by the bandits.
A resident said that after they were alerted some residents fired shots at the bandits.
He said the man in the car hit the bandit who was on a bicycle with the child, causing him to fall and then the child managed to escape.
One of the men fled on the bicycle while two others abandoned their cycle and fled on foot. One of them was forced to jump into a trench in his bid to escape.
It was at this stage, the residents claimed, that an army patrol approached. They said that when the patrol arrived the men were only one hundred yards away. One eyewitness said the patrol chose not to follow the bandits on the dam but decided to take the embankment. He said in the meantime the bandit that had jumped into the trench had time to strip off his clothing, which was hampering him from escaping, and they all fled into a half-built concrete house from where they engaged the police in a shootout before escaping into Buxton. The residents claimed that by the time the police arrived the bandits were able to find cover.
“If deh army did follow them dem men woulda get caught...” one resident said.
Contacted yesterday a GDF source denied the allegation made by the residents.
Giving an account of the event the army officer said that around 10:20 am there was a joint GDF and police patrol on the public road when they heard shoots being fired in Strathspey and both units responded.
This was supported by the release issued by the police which said that with the assistance of a GDF patrol the police exchanged fire with the men who fled into Buxton.
The GDF senior officer said when the patrols arrived in the area the residents told them that the men had fled towards Brushe dam. He said that the patrols then split, the police went towards the Bladen Hall Multilateral School and the GDF went towards the embankment. The officer said that the GDF patrol arrived about five minutes after they had heard gunshots in the area of Bladen Hall and later learnt that the police had fired at two men who had escaped into Brushe dam.
The officers pointed out that the soldiers have no more power than an ordinary citizen to arrest, detain or make searches.
“It is only when they are physically in support of the police can they lend support. The GDF cannot act

Friday March 21, 2003