A close friend of the family of murdered kidnap victim, Roy Bell, has said that the police failed to respond to initial attempts at reporting the abduction.
According to the family friend, the Bells first tried to report the 16-year-old’s disappearance on Saturday and other developments that evening at the Ruimveldt police station, and were advised by a corporal there to speak with a detective. However, that section of the base was locked up.
The following day, the Bells again visited the station but the Detective department remained closed. This newspaper understands that Amerindian Affairs minister, Carolyn Rodrigues was contacted by a relative of the boy that same morning, and was assured that Police Commis-sioner Floyd McDonald and Home Affairs Minister, Ronald Gajraj would be notified.
But it was not until Monday morning that senior ranks of the Force made contact with the family via telephone and later went to their home and took a statement.
“[The family] is angry because it appears that the police treated the kidnapping very lightly,” the family friend told Stabroek News.
Stabroek News contacted the Ruimveldt police station on the claim and was told by the officer in charge that their services were open 24 hours seven days a week.
But on calling the CID department of the same station the telephone rang out.
Bell left his South Ruimveldt home on Saturday morning and disappeared after dropping off a friend at the Kitty/Campbellville bus park. Hours later, kidnappers telephoned his family demanding a $10M ransom which police said was reduced to $6M by Monday.
His body was found lying under a black suitcase at Liliendaal, East Coast Dem-erara on Monday night.