Relatives of Vivickanan Nandalall dropped off a $1M ransom early yesterday morning but up to late last night saw no sign of him, even as the police renewed the hunt for a number of wanted men who they believe are holding the taxi driver in Buxton.

Nandalall, 20, of Non Pariel, East Coast Demerara, was snatched on Thursday evening after he was asked to pick up someone at Bachelor’s Adventure, two villages away. His car, PGG 3846, was later found abandoned on the railway embankment at Annandale.

The Anti-Kidnapping Unit, as well as reinforcements from Headquarters and other Anti-Crime Units from Georgetown, which had been dispatched to the area, were yesterday still searching Buxton and surrounding areas. The police have not yet engaged the assistance of the army and according to one senior source, there is, as yet, no need to do so.

According to a release from the Police Public Relations Office yesterday, investigators are on the hunt “for a number of key suspects whom [they] believe can assist in this investigation, including Albert Andrews aka ‘Doney’, Roger Bunbury aka ‘Don Dick’, Marvin Archer aka Marvin Peters or ‘Skittle’, Royston Peters and Rondell Rollins aka ‘Fine Man’, who are hiding out in Buxton and the surrounding areas.”

The police said Bunbury is also wanted in connection with the murder of several policemen during the crime wave that erupted last year after five men escaped from the Camp Street jail in Georgetown.

“These suspects are wanted for questioning. They are advised to contact the police authorities immediately, either in company of an attorney-at-law or anyone else, failing which they would have to face the long arm of the law,” the release stated.

Up to yesterday afternoon, the police still had in their custody a man from the Buxton/Friendship community.

Relatives of the kidnapped man were yesterday monitoring incoming calls in the hope that Nandalall would be released. The last communication between the young man’s relatives and kidnappers was close to 4 am yesterday when an uncle dropped off the ransom on one of the roads leading into Enterprise and drove away as directed.

“But before me drop de money, me ask where is the pickup point...he [the kidnapper] say let me drive de bus down to Bladen Hall on the railway embankment [and] we gon get him there...We driving from 4 [a.m.] ‘til day clean, looking in de parapet, looking in de trench...nothing and since then, no contact,” the relative told this newspaper.

Relating what transpired prior to the drop-off of the money, the man said the kidnappers called him Friday night and demanded that he travel to Buxton to deliver the ransom.

“Last night (Friday) the last time they call, they want me to go in Buxton. Me say no way me going into Buxton. They say, okay, leave everything ‘til this morning.”

Based on the timings of the call, the man said he believed that the caller had him under surveillance. He said there were several persons visiting his home Friday night and just as the last person left, at around 10 pm, the kidnapper called.

“The phone rang and the man say, ‘Watch, I want meh f...ing money tonight, no tomorrow business. Tomorrow dey raiding Buxton and Friendship...I want meh money tonight, or else this fella dead’.”

Nandalall’s relative said he demanded to speak with the young man to ensure that he was still alive and the caller initially refused. He then asked the caller to ask Nandalall what was his favourite food and his girlfriend’s pet name. Eventually the caller allowed Nandalall to speak.

“Me said, ‘Boyo, how ya doing?’ He said, ‘Alright’ and they tek way de phone,” the relative recounted.

Thereafter, the man said he was directed to circle an area at Strathspey, in his minibus, until the caller indicated where he should drop the money. However, he returned home at about 2:30 am yesterday after the caller did not show.

While he was out, the relative said, the kidnapper called his home and directed another relative to call him back in ten minutes.

Just as the bus returned to the yard after 2 am, the man said the phone rang and the caller asked “What really going on?” Nandalall’s relative said he told the caller that he was working with instructions and had circled the school at Strathspey.

The caller reportedly questioned why the other relative had not returned his call and when the woman stated that she did not know the kidnapper’s number, the man said he heard Nandalall in the background telling the caller that his relatives should call his cell phone.

That was the last time they heard the young man’s voice.

The next time the telephone rang, the caller, in colourful language, asked Nandalall’s relative if the ransom was ready.

“He say, ‘Listen, yuh got to drive fast, drop this money’.”

So one of Nandalall’s uncles made the drop, and then headed to Bladen Hall in search of the taxi driver.

“After that, me ain’t hear nothing...I call [Nandalall’s cellular phone] and the phone went dead. Around 4:30 a.m., we ring back [and] it ringing out,” the man said. Ever since, relatives have been calling the young man’s phone every five minutes.

Relatives only learnt of Nandalall’s abduction on Friday morning after the police found his car. One of Nandalall’s cousins immediately called his cellular phone and Nandalall reportedly told the young lady that he was kidnapped and being held in Buxton back dam. He also said that his kidnappers wanted $5M. That sum was later reduced. A man reportedly then took the phone and said Nandalall could not speak to them further.

That person has been answering the phone and making demands. Relatives insisted that it was one person making all the calls. The abduction comes almost five months after what many believed to be the end of more than a year of shootings, murders and robberies in the city and along the East Coast Demerara.