More searches in the Bare Root backlands on the East Coast Demerara yesterday failed to find taxi driver Vivickanan Nandalall who was kidnapped last Thursday.

One of the young man’s relatives told Stabroek News that about 50 residents of the Enterprise community again combed the canefield after getting a tip off yesterday, but turned up empty handed.

Nandalall, 20, of Non Pariel, East Coast Demerara, was last seen on the evening of October 16, when the dispatcher of a taxi service asked him to pick up a passenger on the road at the entrance of the nearby Imax housing scheme. His car, PGG 3846, was found the next morning, abandoned on the railway embankment at Annandale.

Stabroek News understands that the person who called the taxi service used a phone at a shop in Enterprise and asked for Nandalall by his pet name, `Scoutchie’. After finding the car, the police contacted one of Nandalall’s cousins in an effort to locate him. It was not until the cousin called Nandalall’s cellular phone that the young man told her that he had been kidnapped and was being held in an area behind Buxton.

The police on Tuesday announced that they had, by that day, searched some 87 houses/buildings, and arrested, detained and/or questioned 23 persons. However, a senior police source told this newspaper last night that no further arrests were made yesterday.

Among the areas searched were Buxton, Eastville, Bare Root, Paradise and the Enterprise backdams, all on the East Coast Demerara. Concerns were yesterday mounting over the young man’s disappearance, especially since family members had dropped off a $1M ransom early last Saturday morning.

The police have engaged over 50 ranks from their Anti kidnapping Unit, Tactical Services Unit, Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and Anti Crime Units. On Monday, the police said they are hunting for a number of key suspects whom they believe can assist in the investigation.

These include Albert Andrews aka ‘Doney’, Roger Bunbury aka ‘Don Dick’, Marvin Archer aka Marvin Peters or ‘Skittle’, Royston Peters and Rondell Rollins aka ‘Fine Man’, all of whom the police believe are hiding out in Buxton and the surrounding areas. (Kim Lucas)