Gunmen kidnap another Trinidadian construction worker

GEORGETOWN, Guyana: A group of armed men kidnapped a Trinidadian construction supervisor yesterday and released him unharmed after the man’s co-workers paid a ransom,  police said.

The man was overseeing the laying of new water pipes in Strathspey District, about 7 miles (11 kilometers) east of Georgetown, when four men with handguns and rifles forced him into a car and drove off, police spokesman Lloyd Smith said. The kidnappers took the man to nearby Buxton Village, where he was held for three hours until his co-workers paid the ransom of US$10,000 (Guyanese $1.8 million), Smith said. “We heard that some money was paid, but we are not sure who paid it and how much,” Smith said.

Both the man, who police identified only as Lallchand, and his company, British-run Guyana Water Inc, refused to give details about the incident, police said. They did not say where in Trinidad the man was from, and company officials were immediately unavailable for comment. The man was the second Trinidadian contract worker kidnapped in the last three weeks in Guyana, which has seen a drastic increase in violent crime. Last year the number of killings quadrupled to more than 150 in this country of about 700,000. Armed gangs are increasingly turning to ransom kidnappings as a lucrative business, police say.

Late last month, Kenneth Baboolal, from Siparia in South Trinidad, was released unhurt after associates paid US$15,000 (Guyanese $2.7 million) to his captors, who also came from Buxton Village. Baboolal was also supervising the pipe-laying for the water company, but has since left the South American country.