Surinamese police officer killed in ambush
by Ivan Cairo
Caribbean Net News Suriname Correspondent
Monday, September 12, 2005
PARAMARIBO, Suriname: A police officer on
Wednesday was killed in an ambush by Brazilian criminals in Brokopondo, some
100 kilometers south of the Surinamese capital Paramaribo. Another officer was
seriously wounded and admitted to hospital.
Dead is police officer Bartho Karwafodi (30)
who was investigating the robbery of 4 kilos of gold in the area with
colleague, Theo Stedenburg, and another officer. After they concluded their
inquiries, the officers were on their way to the station when they got word
that an armed robbery was in progress at a nearby camp.
It is alleged that a group of armed
Brazilians were holding a woman hostage while robbing the camp of food and
other items. In responding to that information the police officers went back
into the area and were ambushed by at least two Brazilians armed with a
shotgun and an automatic assault weapon.
Officer Stedenburg sustained gunshots to his
chest, hand and foot. Karwafodi was shot in the back and fled to the
surrounding woods to take cover. The shootout with the assailants lasted for
about ten minutes and the criminals ultimately fled the scene.
Karwafodi’s dead body was found Thursday
evening by police and army troops which were sent to the area after the
attackers. Police Information Service has advised that the reinforcements will
stay in the area and, with help of the national Army police, are trying to
curb the recent crime wave in Brokopondo and other parts of the interior of
Suriname. The past week more and more armed
robberies were committed by Brazilian criminals. Because of lack of
transportation and other necessary equipment by police, it is literally a wild
west in the interior where small scale gold mining is flourishing.
Along with the thousands Brazilian gold
diggers, called garimpeiros, have come criminals from Brazil, who are
targeting not only their fellow countrymen but also other individuals doing
business in the interior. Recently there was a spate of holdups of buses
carrying people coming from the goldfields.
The newly appointed justice minister,
Chandrikapersad Santhoki, warned that the lawlessness must stop. He pledged to
send more troops to areas where police activity is minimal. Santhoki, a former
police commissioner, stated Thursday that “an appropriate answer would follow
to restore law and order”.
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