Twelve people, including three lawmen, were gunned down Sunday night in the small mining village. The 12 were murdered during a one-hour assault, which forced the Bharrat Jagdeo administration to postpone yesterday's reading of the national budget.
Police have also since linked that attack to a gang led by the country's most wanted man, Rondel 'Fine Man' Rawlins. Rawlins is reported to have warned law enforcement authorities that there would be mayhem in the country if his reputed pregnant common-law wife was not released by abductors.The police have offered a G$50 million (US$250,000) reward for Rawlins' capture. He is wanted for several murders, including the April 2006 assassination of Agriculture Minister Satyadeow 'Sash' Sawh, several of his siblings and a bodyguard. In recent weeks, crime has spiraled out of control in this Caribbean Community country.Only three weeks ago, a gang of about 25 men launched an attack at Lusignan, a community in East Coast Demerara, where they killed 11 people, including five children.Many residents have gathered on the streets of Bartica, lamenting the brutish manner in which the 12 people were slaughtered Sunday night. There had been no major statement by the Bharrat Jagdeo administration the Government Information Agency (GINA) has announced that Jagdeo would be meeting with stakeholders today.
At least 20 unidentified gunmen using speedboats first attacked a police outpost Sunday, killing three officers and seriously wounding two others, before taking away various firearms and freeing a number of inmates. Reports said the men then hijacked a police vehicle which they used to run amok, shooting indiscriminately at homes and businesses. Police believe that the gang that carried out the attack was the same group which killed 11 people, including five children at Lusignan three weeks ago.

In Guyana, security troops have killed two members of a gang suspected of participating in the murder of 11 people last Saturday. The Guyanese authorities said that the two men were killed in a gun battle in the village where they were hiding.
Thousands of people attended the cremations of 10 of the murder victims on Thursday, which President Bharrat Jagdeo had declared a day of national mourning.
The 11 victims, who belonged to a native Indian community, were shot dead in their homes by armed men. Police say the gunmen belong to a criminal gang headed by Rondell Rawlins who is on the run from police.