CHOPPED, THROATS SLIT

A TAMANA business couple was viciously attacked at their minimart Thursday night. After being robbed both victims were chopped on their heads and their throats slit.

John Samaroo, 53, did not survive the bloody attack but his wife Saraswatee, 51, was up to press time warded in serious condition at the Sangre Grande hospital.

Around 9.40 pm, Samaroo was putting out garbage on the pavement in front of JJs Minimart while his wife was inside the grocery tidying up in preparation for the next day. There were a few customers chatting with Saraswatee when two masked men, armed with cutlasses and knives, emerged from bushes opposite the minimart. John was ambushed by the men who chopped him in the head, yanked back his head and slit his throat. As he began screaming, his wife and customers could only look on helplessly in horror as he collapsed. The bandits ran into the minimart, grabbed Saraswatee and demanded cash and other valuables.

The customers ran out of the grocery. After robbing Saraswatee, the bandits slit her throat and stabbed her once in the chest. They then ran back into the bushes. Shocked eyewitnesses called the police who took Saraswatee to the area hospital while others searched for the bandits.

Samaroo’s body was taken to the Forensic Science Centre for autopsy. Yesterday, neighbours said he lived in Tamana all his life, was well respected and provided a service to residents who were grateful to him as he kept his business open late to accommodate people who worked late hours.

Residents said they never expected such brutal acts in their quiet community and called on the police to find the killers, saying the incident has left them shaken and feeling unsafe in their own homes. They believe the attackers may be people from the area who knew the minimart was kept open late. Yesterday the minimart remained closed.

Homicide investigators who went to the hospital yesterday to try and interview Saraswatee said she was too traumatised to give a statement and kept asking for her husband. Up to press time the murder stood at 266.