A gang of seven masked men torched their way into Muneshwer's Hardware Store on Water Street early Saturday morning carting off some $30M which was to have been paid to suppliers.

Police have since arrested eight men following a sweep in Tiger Bay and surrounding communities. The police in a statement said the robbery occurred around 4 am on Saturday.

According to the police, investigations so far have revealed that a gang of seven masked men, three of whom were armed with handguns, held up the five unarmed security guards on duty at the business entity and placed them in a storage bond. While one of the bandits stood guard, the other men used a welding set to cut their way into the building and into a metal safe from which they took away about $30 million cash. It is suspected that the bandits escaped by way of the Demerara River.

Robert Hanoman, co-owner of the store told Stabroek News yesterday that the bandits entered through the back of the bond. He said that the robbers managed to cut off about 12 inches of a metal safe which had cash to pay persons who had supplied cement and other hardware items. Hanoman said the bandits' operation seems to have been well organized. It was only recently Muneshwer's was rebuilt after a fire in 2003 ravaged the building.