"$2M OR DEATH"

A ransom of “$2 million or death” is  being demanded by kidnappers of Syam Ramkissoon.

The demand was made around 11 am Sunday and Ramkissoon’s father, poultry magnate Jai Ramkissoon, is appealing for help from members of the public to help him raise the money saying he has no money and is in debt. The elder Ramkissoon is also appealing to government to provide better equipment to the police service to enable them to do their jobs properly. Syam was kidnapped on Friday at Manuel Congo Road, San Rafael as he was on his way to Sasa Farms. Three men in a white car blocked his car and in trying to escape, Ramkissoon reversed into a river from where the men pulled him out of the vehicle. Syam was shoved into another vehicle which drove away. At the time, he was with his mother Sumintra, 63.

Jai Ramkissoon called Newsday’s newsroom just before 8 am yesterday to make his appeal. When Newsday visited him at his sprawling Mausica Road, Arima home, Ramkissoon, dressed in a dark suit, was sitting at a table in his garage with two cousins chatting. There were two other tables with several chairs around them. He said relatives and friends were constantly visiting him. As usual, the gate to the house was open allowing anyone to simply drive through. Ramkissoon said he was awaiting the next call from his son’s kidnappers. He said since Syam was kidnapped on Friday evening, he received several calls “from different bandits.” He said he told each caller to prove their authenticity that they were the real kidnappers by allowing his son to speak to him.

Ramkissoon said on Sunday around 11 am, one “bandit” called demanding a ransom of “$2 million or death.” He said all the bandits sounded “rough.” Ramkissoon said later at 9.30 pm, Syam called him on his cell phone. “I spoke to him for about half a second. He sounded depressed saying ‘Daddy they want to kill me’.” He said Syam sounded as though he was in a moving vehicle. Ramkissoon said he didn’t believe that Syam would be released if no money was paid. Ramkissoon said like most of the other recent kidnappings, he believed Syam was kidnapped “not for joke but of course for extortion money”. Sounding distressed, he lamented he had no money to pay the kidnappers. “There is no way I can raise that kind of money! My house is mortgaged, I am owing for everything I have. My personal account is in the red and I can’t even get credit from the hardware,” stressed Ramkissoon. He said Syam’s wife, Valia, was too distraught to speak to the media, as was his mother Sumintra and sister Sharon. He said they were all inside the house and at one time a priest came to speak to them. Sumintra, who was with Syam when he was kidnapped and who was slightly injured, was said to be resting comfortably.

Ramkissoon said the whole family was going through a stressful time. Asked how he was coping, Ramkissoon said, “Sometimes I laugh, cry or talk, we can’t function and Sharon is unable to work.” Sharon, an attorney, was also kidnapped 17 years ago and released safely without any ransom being paid. Because of his claim of  poor financial state, Ramkissoon appealed to the public to help him raise the money saying he had no idea how to approach the situation. He also appealed to the government, and especially Prime Minister Patrick Manning, to do something about the spiralling rate of kidnappings. He pleaded for the police to be given “better surveillance and intelligence gathering equipment, or else the bandits would continue to get away.” “It is not one person in this, but a ring of people who are doing things and getting away with it. They are having a field day,” said Ramkissoon angrily as he speculated that maybe his son was being kept in bushes and being bitten by mosquitoes. Asked if he contemplated migrating when the ordeal is over, Ramkissoon firmly said he had no such intention, “It’s not an option for me.” Officers of the Anti-Kidnapping squad are investigating.