Kidnap victim chews his way to freedom

AFTER spending a night inside a shed in the Cap-de-Ville forest with his entire face wrapped in duct tape, kidnap victim Ravin Persad, 18, somehow managed to free himself and escape from the shed where his abductors had left him yesterday to get food.

Persad, the son of well-known southern contractor Krishna Persad, was up to yesterday warded at the San Fernando General Hospital, where hospital sources reported to Newsday that his face was scarred and he was missing clumps of hair, after the sticky duct tape was removed. Persad’s parents are the proprietors of KPS Contractors Ltd. Heavily armed police yesterday cordoned off several major roads in the Cap-de-Ville and Pt Fortin areas, where they carried out intensive searches for the teen’s kidnappers. Up to late last night, the search was continuing. Persad escaped around 1 pm yesterday — moments after the kidnappers contacted the teen’s worried relatives and demanded $500,000 for his safe release.

When Newsday visited Persad’s Fanny Village, Point Fortin home yesterday, no relative was willing to speak, save for one man who walked to the front door and told reporters, “we eh have no use for you reporters.” According to police reports, after Persad was snatched while walking to work on Thursday, he was taken to the shack inside the Cap-de-Ville forest where his abductors taped his entire head with duct tape, leaving a small hole near Persad’s nose for him to breathe. The teenager, whose hands were bound with wire, was not given any food or water to drink while in captivity. Around 1 pm, the kidnappers telephoned Persad’s parents and demanded $500,000 for his safe release. The abductors then left him in the shed alone to purchase food.

The frightened boy was able to chew off part of the duct tape covering his mouth and somehow managed to untie his hands. He then bolted from the shed, running through the thick bushes until he got to a road. Persad spotted a fish vendor whom he knew and flagged down his van. The vendor took the teenager to his family’s home, from where the police were contacted. The teenager was then rushed to the Point Fortin Area Hospital where he was treated and transferred to the SFGH. Officers of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad and Siparia CID are continuing investigations.