Shastri Boodan
With cable theft increasing in Couva, police yesterday shot one man and captured four others allegedly stealing cables.
Police said around 2.45 am, PCs Huggins and Seemungal, of the Couva CID, were responding to calls of cable theft in McBean, Couva, when they spotted a silver station wagon.
The driver sped off and the officers chased the vehicle along the Southern Main Road. Police said they were shot at and returned fire.
The bandits eventually crashed their vehicle in Basta Hall and attempted to escape on foot.
One man from Laventille managed to flee the lawmen but three others in their 20s from Pleasantville were nabbed. A firearm was also recovered.
One of the men, who was shot, remains under police guard at the San Fernando General Hospital in a stable condition.
The car was being examined by forensic experts at the Couva Station yesterday.
Earlier yesterday, PCs Huggins and Seemungal also held a resident of Roystonia stealing TSTT cables in his neighbourhood around 1.30 am, after they got a call from a resident of the community.
Yesterday, Couva South MP Rudy Indarsingh said he has repeatedly asked for more resources for the police to tackle the problem and other crimes.
Indarsingh said, “We have criminals flocking to Couva and environs, stealing cables, stealing cars, anything they could grab, what next? The police need the additional resources and manpower. The business community is not safe, people attempting to do business put their lives at risk daily. The Government has to step up.”