Chamber President fearful as assailant on the run

“This man threatened to kill me and burn down my business place after he stabbed me and he is out there somewhere on the run. This is the fear that I am living with. I am afraid for not only myself, but the safety of my family and employees,” Ali told Newsday in an interview yesterday.

Security has since been beefed up at the business place. Ali confirmed that his attacker had been employed with him for the past 12 years and was given a company car to use. According to a police report, at about 8 am last Thursday, Ali, who owns and operates Old Mac Agro Supplies Limited and Trinidad Parboil Limited, Couva, was speaking to the employee about his conduct at the workplace when the man became enraged.

Ali asked the worker to leave his office. The man, reports said, then pulled a knife from his pocket and stabbed Ali under his left shoulder blade narrowly missing his heart . A bleeding Ali was rushed to the Couva Health Centre and later transferred to the San Fernando General Hospital (SFGH) where he was treated and later discharged. Ali has since returned to work at his business. Yesterday, he told Newsday he was on the road to recovery and thankful to be alive.

“I am just really concerned that this man is at large,” he said. Recalling details which led up to the incident, Ali said he called a staff meeting on Wednesday and when the employee failed to show up he requested to meet with him. “I wanted to find out why he did not show up at the staff meeting. I sent two messages for him to visit my office. He came to my office after the second message,”Ali recalled.

The businessman told Newsday that when the suspect entered the office, he was enraged and began using obscene language towards him.

Ali said he attempted to calm the employee , but he continued to raise his voice and curse him. “When I told him to leave the office, he pulled out a knife from his pocket and stabbed me and then ran out the office,”Ali recalled.

Ali thanked doctors and nurses at both the Couva Health Centre and SFGH for the “excellent treatment” given to him. His attack comes on the heels of calls by the President of the Chaguanas Chamber of Commerce, Vishnu Charran, for changes to be made to legislation to allow easier access to licensed firearms for members of the business community.

Yesterday, senior police said an All Points Bulletin (APB) has been issued as they continue to search for the suspect.