Deyalsingh on robbery at St Joseph bar: Gun to mih head

Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh at a post-Cabinet briefing in 2020. The St Joseph MP was robbed of the gold bracelet seen on his right hand in this photo while outside a bar in his constituency on September 17. - File Photo

MINISTER of Health and MP for St Joseph Terrence Deyalsingh was robbed at gunpoint while sitting outside a bar in his constituency on September 17 around 5 pm.

A video posted on social media shows Deyalsingh recounting the robbery to someone on the phone.

In the video, police can be seen driving away as Deyalsingh describes the situation.

He said, “Minister, so I am in St Joseph in my constituency, 5 o'clock, hot sun, bright sun, sitting outside Nyahbinghi bar opposite the church with a constituent.

“Two fellas walked up to me, put a gun to mih head and robbed me of my bracelet.

“Just letting you know where crime has reached.”

He paused for a few seconds and then continued, “No, no, no, the police here, you don’t have to get... I just letting you know.”

According to reports, Deyalsingh was outside Nyahbinghi’s bar when two men, one armed with a gun, confronted him and stole his gold bracelet before getting into a car and escaping.

Newsday visited the bar at the corner of King and Abercromby streets in St Joseph around 7.20 pm and spoke to an eyewitness.

The man, who arrived at the bar around 4 pm, said Deyalsingh was sitting with a woman when the robbery happened.

“Two youthmen came around the corner; one had a gun and pointed it at Deyalsingh’s face. They wanted the gold bera on his hand.” A bera is a traditional Indian-style gold bracelet.

The man said Deyalsingh initially resisted, but “when he realised they were really going to shoot him, he let them take it.”

The witness believed the suspects knew who Deyalsingh was and said the ordeal lasted about five minutes.

Another eyewitness also believed the bandits knew Deyalsingh.

“They did not call him by name, but they knew who he was, because they didn’t try to rob anybody else.”

The witness said he was traumatised by the incident and said police interviewed several people, including staff at a nearby auto parts store.

After the robbery, another patron at the bar saw the police passing and flagged them down.

Later, officers in an unmarked police vehicle returned to the bar for CCTV footage and spoke to workers renovating the St Joseph RC Church across from the bar.

A man sits in front of Nyahbinghi Bar on the corner of Abercromby and King Street, St Joseph, where Minister of Health Terrence Deyalsingh was robbed of his gold bracelet by gunmen on September 17. - Photo by Angelo Marcelle

Calls and WhatsApp messages to Deyalsingh last evening were unanswered.

Former commissioner of police and political leader of the National Transformation Alliance (NTA), Gary Griffith, posted on social media, “Don’t worry, Terrance (sic), soon Gary Griffith will replace you as MP and he will make St Joseph safe again.”

Minister of National Security Fitzgerald Hinds told Newsday he hoped the two bandits who robbed Deyalsingh would be promptly apprehended.

Hinds spoke to Newsday about two hours after the incident.

“I am possessed of only very limited information in respect of this matter.

“The police, in fact, indicated that the event (was) broadly the way you described it – that the minister was going about his normal life, interfacing with his constituents, doing his work and this unfortunate incident arose.

“I am assured by the police that they are looking at that particular matter as well and that it appears as if they are making some progress.

“I am only hoping they bring it to a positive outcome and that they could find the miscreants who were responsible for another robbery in Trinidad and Tobago.”

Hinds said the incident reflected that no one was immune to the criminal behaviour of certain citizens and also non-nationals participating in street crimes.

“It really just demonstrates the state of affairs and the reasons why we all as a society have to strengthen ourselves (and) harden our targets, whether it is in a normal day’s work, whether it is while we are recreating, whether it is while we are at home.”

The police were spending time to sensitise people to this, he added.

“It also shows the need for us to come together and for the police to really accentuate on finding these miscreants and dealing with them in accordance with the law. I am happy to know Minister Deyalsingh – I have not yet spoken to him – but from the little I am aware of in relation to the matter, he is physically unharmed.

“I propose to speak to him very shortly about the matter and assure the police are giving attention to this crime.

“I am hoping, along with everyone else, that we get to the bottom of this and find the animals who would have done this.”

Hinds urged the public to help the police solve this crime.

“I must take the opportunity as well – since he was in a very public place at a well-known location – to call on the public, particularly those who would have been in the vicinity of this incident, which took place at about 4.30 pm or five o’clock this afternoon, to assist as best as they could in identifying the perpetrators of this crime and all crimes in TT.”

Deyalsingh is both St Joseph MP and Health Minister. He was first an Opposition Senator in 2010-2013. He was elected an opposition MP for St Joseph in a by-election in 2013.

He was re-elected to the seat in the 2015 general elections to become a government MP and health minister and was re-elected again in 2020 and continued to serve as MP and minister since then.

On September 6, during a media briefing at the Ministry of National Security, Hinds said the nation is experiencing a severe level of crime and the government understands and recognises this. He said citizens are entitled to effective law enforcement as mandated by law.

At the same briefing, Commissioner of Police Erla Harewood-Christopher outlined the police service’s “intensification initiatives” designed to reduce violent crime.

She described these initiatives as detailed, intelligence-driven and “effectively operationalised.”

Harewood-Christopher said these strategies have successfully met the TTPS’s goals, describing police operations as “dynamic.”

She said the police are continuously reviewing and updating strategies to combat criminals, make arrests and reduce violent crimes such as homicides, extortion attempts and home invasions. Harewood-Christopher specifically highlighted the Eagle Eye Project as a significant initiative aimed at fighting crime.

She said it would play a crucial role in strengthening security through extensive surveillance.

The project, launched by the Greater Tunapuna Chamber of Industry and Commerce (GTCIC) and the Tunapuna Police Station Community Council (TPSCC) in March, aims to enhance surveillance through installing CCTV cameras. The network, consisting of around 400 cameras, feeds directly into the police command centre and is monitored 24 hours a day.

The project is primarily based in northeast and eastern Trinidad.

(With reporting by Sean Douglas)