Cops arrest two for Schneider kidnapping

TWO young Laventille men were arrested late Saturday night by officers of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad (AKS) in connection with the July 13 kidnapping of Damien Schneider, for whose safe release, a ransom of $2M has been demanded.

Up to late yesterday, sources remained tight-lipped on the arrests, saying only that the two suspects, who were held in Port-of-Spain and Laventille, were being interrogated by AKS officers at CID Headquarters, Port-of-Spain. Schneider, 35, of Sandhurst Street, Belmont was grabbed after dropping off his friend Dexter Chang, at his (Chang’s) Palmiste Street, Belmont home just after 2 am on Sunday July 13. While making his way home, two men reportedly accosted Schneider and at gunpoint, forced him into a car, which sped of. Two hours after the kidnapping, Schneider’s relatives received a telephone call from the kidnappers who demanded a ransom of $2M for Schneider’s safe release.

Meanwhile, police investigating another kidnapping, that of San Juan resident Darryl Chootoo (who is feared dead), told Newsday a man found with gunshot wounds in Arima last week, is now considered a suspect in Chootoo’s kidnapping. The man remains warded under police guard at Port-of-Spain General Hospital. Police sources said once he is discharged, he would be placed on Identification Parades. Two men have since appeared before a Port-of-Spain Magistrate in connection with Chootoo’s kidnapping. One of the men was charged with kidnapping Chootoo, while the other was charged with demanding money (extortion) from Chootoo’s relatives. However, apart from the arrest of the two men on Saturday night, police remain nowhere near to making a breakthrough in their investigations into five kidnappings which occurred last week, and for which a total of $8M has been demanded for the victims’ safe release.

The five kidnap victims are Yves Ayoung Chee, 18, Benedict Bharath, 18, Mark Samlal, 20, his girlfriend Kendra Kissoon, 19 and Damien Schneider. Police sources told Newsday that on Saturday night, relatives of kidnap victims Kendra Kissoon  and Yves Ayoung Chee, were contacted by the kidnappers who once again demanded payment of ransoms. A ransom demand of $6M has been made for the safe release of Kissoon. Ayoung Chee and his friend Benedict Bharath, both students of St Mary’s College, were kidnapped around 5.20 am last Thursday, at Marli Street, Newtown after leaving Club Coconuts. Samlal and Kissoon were also kidnapped last Thursday in front of Samlal’s Silver Mill Street, San Juan home. Last week’s spate of kidnappings has pushed the overall kidnapping figure to 120 and sent panic among the various business communities in the country. The San Juan Businessmen Association has officially declared itself under a “state of emergency” with members adhering to a self-imposed curfew for themselves and their relatives. Spearheading investigations into these kidnappings is Snr Supt Gilbert Reyes while AKS officers’ ASP Henry Millington, Insp Adam Joseph and Sgt Netram Kowlessar, are also involved in investigations.