SASCHA WIL­SON | Se­nior Re­porter

Ban­dits es­caped with close to $200,000 af­ter rob­bing a busi­ness­man in Cou­va on Thurs­day af­ter­noon.

The vic­tim, who owns a fish busi­ness, was at his premis­es around 1.30 pm when four gun­men—dressed in dark cloth­ing and wear­ing masks—emerged from near­by bush­es and ac­cost­ed him.

The as­sailants stole $20,000 from the cash reg­is­ter.

One of the sus­pects then forced the vic­tim up­stairs to his home on the up­per floor of the build­ing and in­to a bed­room, where they stole $172,000 from a safe.

The ban­dits then fled on foot.

Of­fi­cers from the Cou­va CID re­spond­ed, and in­ves­ti­ga­tions are on­go­ing.