No word on kidnapped Mahaica businessman
By Nigel Williams
Stabroek News
May 15, 2003
One day has passed since a Mahaica businessman was kidnapped by four armed men and up to now his family has not received word from his abductors.
The Guyana Police Force says it has launched a manhunt for 55-year-old Viticharan Singh who was grabbed from his home around 6 pm on Tuesday, bundled into a dark Marino and taken to a place somewhere between Mahaica and Triumph on the East Coast of Demerara.
The police have taken into custody the driver of the car which was used for Singh's kidnapping and his vehicle HA 8754. Both the army and police had scoured the area on Tuesday evening but came up empty-handed. Singh's kidnapping is the latest in a series dating back to last year. The police have been unable to stop the kidnappings and no-one has been prosecuted for kidnapping in any of these cases.
Singh's wife has since fallen ill and his only son, who also gave chase behind the kidnappers on Tuesday evening, is becoming increasingly worried over the fate of his father.
In a press release yesterday afternoon the Police Public Relations department said that Singh was kidnapped around 5:55 pm on Tuesday afternoon by four armed men who drove up in a black Marino. The release added that the police and army pursued the kidnappers and intercepted the said car on the Beterverwagting Public Road with only the driver inside.
When Stabroek News visited the home of the kidnapped businessman yesterday officers from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) were carrying out investigations. A few of the businessman's relatives and friends had also turned up at his home and were seen offering words of comfort to his son and wife. Singh operates a liquor and grocery store. A number of residents could also be seen outside the store anxiously awaiting word.
Recounting Tuesday night's incident one of the businessman's employees said that he along with another worker had just returned to work after they had gone to deliver and sell beverages around the Mahaica/Mahaicony area. Singh is a DDL dealer and runs his business with his wife and son. The employee told this newspaper that it is customary for Singh to check his stocks whenever they go out and return. He said on Tuesday afternoon he was doing this after they had returned when the gunmen invaded the premises.
"All I know is that me boss was standing on the truck counting off drinks when suddenly I saw a dark blue car pull up at the corner of the store."
The young man who was still traumatised by the incident said as soon as the car pulled up, one man jumped out of it armed with a handgun and immediately rushed into the store. The employee recalled seeing the man climbing over the counter and accosting Singh's wife who was at the time selling in the store.
Singh, who was still on the truck, on observing the man entering his store jumped off the vehicle and was going to the rescue of his wife, when a second man who was in the car shouted "look he deh hold he! hold he!"
Two men came out of the car and confronted the businessman. According to reports, Singh resisted. Simultaneously, the other gunman in the store forced Singh's wife to hand over a substantial amount of cash and cellular phones along with other articles. He then jumped over the counter and while leaving commanded two of Singh's employees to lie face downwards with his gun pointed to their heads. While the employees were being subdued, the employee said Singh and the men continued to struggle, but they later managed to handcuff him and bundled him into the Marino and took off at top speed in the direction of the city.
The car, however, was intercepted at around 6:45 pm at Triumph, ECD by a GDF patrol, but only the driver of the vehicle, who is said to be a resident of West Ruimveldt, was in the car.
The intercepting of the car resulted in a prolonged build-up of traffic on the East Coast Highway on Tuesday night.
Singh's son said he was in Mahaica at the time when his father was kidnapped. He remembered encountering the car with the kidnappers on his way home travelling at top speed but did not pay much attention to it.
According to the man he suspected that the car might have been involved in something shady but this was not confirmed until he received a call informing him of the colour of the car. The younger Singh said he immediately turned around his vehicle and went after the men, but his progress was impeded by the heavy traffic.
He said when he caught up with the car the army had already intercepted it. He could not say who informed the army about the car but what he knew is that the soldiers gave chase and caught up with it at Triumph. The car would have had to go past at least five army patrols along the way to Triumph, most which are in the area between Vigilance and Annandale.
Stabroek News was told that when the driver was questioned about the matter he said that he was hijacked by the men but eyewitnesses said from all that transpired at De Hoop, it seems as if the driver was a part of the plot. The car is at the Vigilance Police Station.
