(Trinidad Express) A teenager is among the nine suspects detained for the kidnapping for ransom of St Helena couple Narine and Mattie Maraj.
The nine suspects, ages 16 to 50, are from the Northern and Eastern Divisions.
Contacted yesterday, a relative said, “We really don’t want to make any comment about this as yet, as per instructions from the police. We have a lot to deal with, but we are pleased with how the police handled the situation.”
Last Saturday, the couple left their St Helena home and headed to their farm at 3B’s Drive in Piarco, in their silver Ford Focus.
Shortly afterwards, relatives received a call that they had been kidnapped, and the caller demanded a $2 million ransom for their release.
On Sunday, Narine, 62, escaped from the Valencia house in which the couple were being kept; while just before midday on Tuesday, his wife was found along Cumaca Road, off the Valencia Main Road—the same area where her husband had escaped.
Maraj was then taken to the Sangre Grande Hospital, where she was examined, and then released into the care of her relatives.
Police later speculated that the woman was released as the police search had been extended in the area, which they felt made the kidnappers jumpy.
The operation between Saturday and Tuesday to rescue the kidnapped couple involved officers of the Anti-Kidnapping Unit, the Eastern Division Task Force, the Northern Division Task Force, the Special Operations Response Team—Operations and Intelligence, Canine Branch, the Defence Force, the Special Investigations Unit and the Air Support Unit.
