(Trinidad Express) An attempt was made by several courageous people to stop the abduction of UWI staff member Maria Dass-Supersad.
UPDATE: UWI Staffer rescued, suspects in custody
Dass-Supersad is the Commercialization Manager at the Office of Institutional Advancement and Internationalization at The UWI.
The snatch happened outside the UWI Bookstore near the university’s administrative building.
It happened at around 3.38p.m.
Initial reports are that Dass-Supersad was walking towards her vehicle when two men, dressed in police and army uniform, grabbed her.
When an alarm was raised, shots were fired by the suspects.
The woman was taken away in a silver Tiida, registration PDK-9561.
The plates were found to be bogus.
Police have issued an alert that the suspects are armed and dangerous.
Last month, there was a massive protest on The UWi’s campus involving students who protested what they saw as lax security on campus. The protest resulted in the arrest of two students and a promise by the university’s administration to do better.
President of the UWI’s Guild Darrion Narine told the Express: “We are very disheartened. It goes to show the extent of the situation outside there, that has spilled over again into the campus community”.
He said people were shell shocked that such a crime could happen on the campus.
“We would like to urge and now staff as well, to be very safe, very wary, very cautious of their surroundings, and also to take their safety into their own hands. It has reached to that stage now where students and staff have to take their safety into their own hands. Clearly that is where we are at”.
He said that: “My heart and my concern goes out to the family of the person”.
Police have issued the following statement
Police are at this time searching for kidnap victim, Maria Dass, of Lange Park, Chaguanas, who was reportedly kidnapped from the compound of the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, this afternoon.
Initial reports indicate that Dass, an administrator employed with the University, was accosted by three men who forced her into a silver Nissan Tiida motor vehicle, around 3:38pm, on Wednesday 28th November, 2018, as she entered her vehicle.
The vehicle’s license plates, PDK 9561, were later discovered to be false.
Investigations are ongoing.
