Car crash saves Rio Claro man from kidnappers

Narine Ramrattan, 43, was snatched at gunpoint just outside his businessplace — Ramrattan Hardware Ltd at High Street, Rio Claro, early yesterday morning.

According to a police report, Ramrattan of Poole, Rio Claro, proprietor of Ramrattan Hardware, pulled up in his vehicle in front of his hardware to open for the day’s business at 7.30 am yesterday. A silver grey Mazda 323 was parked just outside the gate. The car was occupied by three men.

According to the report, Ramrattan was accosted by three unmasked men, one armed with a gun, as he alighted from his vehicle, and proceeded to unlock the gate to the hardware.

The report stated that the men snatched Ramrattan, a father of two, and bundled him into the backseat of their vehicle and sped off. Ramrattan’s hands and feet were reportedly bound with duct tape. His mouth was also gagged in the car.

On reaching the Rio Claro Main Road, near the roundabout — a stone’s throw away from the Rio Claro Police Station — the kidnappers’ vehicle crashed into the back of a Honda Civic, driven by a woman who was on her way to work.

On impact, the three suspects jumped out of the vehicle, leaving Ramrattan lying face down in the backseat of the car, and reportedly ran along High Street, Rio Claro.

An eyewitness told police that after the crash, he saw the men enter a B14 Sentra, already occupied by two men, which was parked a few metres away from the scene of the accident. The car then sped off. Ramrattan was subsequently attended to by police officers and taken to the nearby health facility where he was examined and treated for minor cuts and bruises which he reportedly received as a result of the crash.