Coast Guard scours Caroni pond for body

Coast guard officers, in a dinghy supervised by police officers, spent four hours yesterday in a caiman-infested pond located several miles inside a Caroni Estate road at in a bid to fish out the body of kidnap victim Darryl Chotoo. Around 9.30 am yesterday, the Coast Guard officers, accompanied by the police, drove several miles north of the Caroni Post Office, past a tower  then turned left into a dirt roadway and crossed a huge drain before reaching the pond where the body of Chotoo is believed to have been dumped on the night of June 30. Coast Guard officers placed a special net and other equipment into the murky pond in an attempt to fish out whatever evidence remained of Chotoo. Instead of a body or the remains of Chotoo, the Coast Guard officers fished out small river fish and red crabs. They also came face to face with some fierce looking caimans which slithered into the pond. One coast guard officer was seen using a bamboo  pole to search the murky water for the body under the sweltering heat of the mid morning sun. Coast Guard officers told Newsday that based on what they saw, the remains could be lying at the bottom of the pond. At around 1.30 pm, the exercise was aborted when nothing was found.

Today, special equipment will be taken to the pond to continue the search. Sgt Mungal Hazarrie of the San Juan Police Station who was in charge of the search for the body attempted to prevent Newsday from photographing the search. He shouted: “If you take any pictures. I will seize your camera, this is my crime scene and I don’t want you all around.” “You all are vultures,” he shouted. He threatened to throw the media into the pond, and said that although he had bosses, they were not real police and nobody could stop him from preventing photographs being taken. Contacted yesterday, ACP Crime Oswyn Allard said that an investigation will be launched into the matter. He said that he was saddended and shocked by what transpired. Relatives of Chotoo are also expected to visit the scene today. Police investigators were taken to the pond on Wednesday afternoon by a man who is the main suspect in the kidnapping of the father of one.

The man in a statement to investigators claimed that on the night of June 30, he and others kidnapped Chotoo from his El Socorro home. He added that Chotoo refused to be led into the black Nissan B-13 car and was shot between the chest and stomach. He said that the bleeding Chotoo was driven several miles into the roadway north of the Caroni Post office where it was discovered that he had died. He was dragged into the roadway north of the tower and his body dumped into the caiman-infested pond which is used by gardeners to secure water for their gardens. The car which was used to transport Chotoo was burnt and left in the area. It has since been recovered by the police and will form part of the investigation into the kidnapping and murder of Chotoo. The 22-year-old Point Fortin man who pointed out the pond to the police is expected to be charged with kidnapping. If the body is found, he will also be charged with murder, but plans are afoot to use him as a witness against others in the kidnapping and murder of Chotoo. Two persons have already been charged with the kidnapping. Relatives of Chotoo said that while they are hoping that Chotoo is still alive, if the body or any remains are found they would finally have closure in the matter.