Capsule given to Jai’s wife sent for tests

Two men posing as Christian pastors went to the Mausica home of businessman Jai Ramkissoon on Monday night, prayed for five minutes and gave his wife Sumintra a capsule to assist her to sleep. They then left in a Mazda vehicle.

Yesterday, an emotional Ramkissoon told Newsday that he is now convinced that the two imposters were kidnappers working with others, who came to his home to find out if police officers were present there, and to poison his wife. The tablet was handed over to the police and sent for tests to determine if it contained any poisonous substances.

Sumintra, 63, was in company with her son Syam on Friday at Sasa Farms San Rafael when three men snatched her son, stole a $50,000 payroll and then bundled her son in a car. Up until yesterday Syam remained in the hands of kidnappers. Ramkissoon told Newsday that around 12.45 am yesterday, he received a call from a kidnapper demanding that the ransom be paid by midday yesterday. Ramkissoon said that the kidnapper cursed him and told him that if the money is not paid, he will never see his son again. The chicken magnate said that he haggled with the kidnapper informing him that he was flat broke, and was in the process of raising funds. He even informed the kidnapper that he was in no position to pay the $2 million ransom and pleaded with the kidnapper to reduce the amount.

At midday yesterday, Ramkissoon said that he was given a few extra hours to come up with the money, and said that the kidnapper promised to call again at 5 pm. The father of two said that he has been pooling together available funds to pay the ransom and has insisted to the kidnapper that he will be the one delivering the money. Ramkissoon said that two AKS officers have been posted at his house permanently.

In recalling the incident with the two imposters, Ramkissoon claimed that around 12.30 pm, he was speaking with a police officer when two men, one with an afro and one of East Indian descent, approached him and said they had come to pray for Syam. Ramkissoon said he asked a relative to show the two men to the house. His daughter Sharon informed him after the men had left, that the voice bore a striking resemblance to the kidnapper on the phone, and the men appeared to be looking around instead of offering prayers. They did not produce a Bible and later told Sumintra that their spirit revealed to them that she was not sleeping properly. They then gave her a capsule. One of the men told her to take the capsule and she would be asleep in 15 minutes’ time. The men then left the house. “When my daughter revealed her suspicions to me, I realised that her suspicions were correct since the voice of the imposter pastor was the same voice which called me on my cell phone demanding the ransom,” said Ramkissoon.

Newsday learned that Valia, Syam’s wife, has been distraught ever since Syam was kidnapped. Yesterday, she pleaded with kidnappers to release her husband of three months. Inside the compound, Sumintra, Valia and Sharon, Ramkissoon’s daughter, were praying for Syam’s safe return. AKS officers told Newsday that they do not have any leads in the kidnapping, but explained that they received information that the kidnappers will settle for $500,000. Ramkissoon admitted that he is now more alert and careful about who is allowed into his house.