Keishar's proprietor kidnapped
Snatched after running gun battle
By Oscar P. Clarke
and Edlyn Benfield
Stabroek News
October 25, 2002
City businessman Bramanand Nandalall was yesterday abducted by gunmen following a running gunfight in Central Georgetown during which a female passerby was shot.
Nandalall called `Bramma' of Republic Park and owner of Keishar's Gift Shop & Variety Store was snatched by a group of heavily armed gunmen in bulletproof vests after being cornered outside of Citizen's Bank on Camp and Charlotte Streets at around 6:55 am yesterday.
Up to press time last night there was no further word on his whereabouts and the abduction sent shock waves through the city which has been in the grip of a ferocious eight-month-long crime wave.
Nandalall, according to reports, had just left his heavily tinted Royal Blue Land Rover with licence plate no. 73-02 LP in front of his Regent Street store when his abductors confronted him.
Stabroek News understands that Nandalall who was armed, engaged the men in a gun battle as he fled west along Regent Street turning south into Camp Street in the direction of Citizen's Bank.
According to eyewitness reports, Nandalall sporadically returned fire as the men pursued him in a burgundy Toyota Carina, into which he was dragged after being cornered at the Camp Street entrance of the bank.
It was also reported that the first car was preceded by a silver grey car with three men who it was surmised were operating as scouts for the gunmen.
Evidence of the intense shooting exchange was clearly visible at both the Regent Street store, formerly Sears, and the bank with bullets having pierced glass windows at both locations.
Further a business place on Regent Street west of Keishar's also bore evidence of the morning's attack.
Curious onlookers flocked to both locations mostly from the neighbouring communities as yet still others on their way to work stopped to inquire about the happenings.
Apart from the broken shop window at Keishar's there was a bunch of keys on the pavement which may have been dropped by Nandalall as he fled.
Spent shells of various calibre weapons littered the route taken by the shooters as they chased after the businessman.
Eyewitnesses told this newspaper, the gunmen demonstrated military-type experience. According to them, Nandalall could have been easily killed if his attackers had wanted it. They instead fired repeatedly into the air until Nandalall had exhausted his supply of bullets before seeking to apprehend him.
A Police Public Relations press release said four gunmen kidnapped (Nandalall) at about 7:10 hrs as he sought refuge in Citizen's Bank. It stated that about five minutes earlier, the four armed men exited a burgundy car #HA 1155, pounced on the businessman and discharged several rounds at him as he was about to open his Regent Street store.
The release said the men pursued (Nandalall) as he fled west along Regent Street then south into Camp Street and into Citizen's Bank. They discharged several rounds, kidnapped (Nandalall), pushed him into a vehicle and drove away, the release concluded.
According to a police source, the areas being staked out by police include all sections of the city, the East Coast and "wherever information gleaned from telephone calls or other sources lead..."
The source noted too that the manner of the abduction suggests Nandalall's abductors were "out to get him at all costs." Up to press time yesterday, no information on the whereabouts of the businessman was available. Efforts to contact Nandalall's relatives also proved futile.
Earlier this month businessman Kamal Seebarran was kidnapped from his auto dealership on Sheriff Street by four men wearing bulletproof vests. He was released a day later and reports suggest his kidnappers had been paid a $17.2M ransom.