Hunters want hunting season open to find Vijay

Twenty-eight days after ten-year-old Vijay Persad was snatched from his Moruga home, hunters from the South Eastern Hunters Association (SEHA) yesterday continued their search of the Moruga forest but called on Government to open the hunting season for a week to enable them to continue the search without breaking the law. Yesterday, throughout the day members of the 450-strong association went into various parts of the forest in defiance of warnings from the police that entering these State lands during the close hunting season without police permission would be breaking the law.

The close hunting season begins in March and ends in September and hunters are not allowed in the forest  with guns and dogs during this period. But despite all of yesterday’s searches there was no sign of any shack in which the child might have been held, or of any tracks which would suggest people had been there. The heavy rains of the last few days made the searches more difficult. However, SEHA President Mohan Bholasingh was adamant that SEHA would not support the temporary opening of the hunting season. “We do not support that because we have to be responsible towards the animal population. There are a lot of pregnant animals in the forests and they need to multiply, so if we go in there with guns and dogs it will defeat the purpose. The animals will be scared and they must be able to multiply in a safe environment without interruption,” Bholasingh said. He also added that there would also be persons who will take advantage of the temporary opening of the season to prey on the animals, even though they might be pregnant. “They believe they can cover much area without guns and dogs because the hunting dogs are trained to find beasts, not man.”

In response, a senior police officer of the Southern Division, ASP Joseph Nathaniel said that SEHA would have to face the consequences if they continue to go into the forests during the close season without police permission. He said that they are continuing the search for the child and welcome the help of the hunters, but the hunters must have police permission. “Breaking the law is something we, the police, will not tolerate,” said ASP Nathaniel. “Although there is a high spate of enthusiasm in the air for everyone concerned wanting to find the kidnapped boy, still I don’t believe in and don’t support people breaking the law. Those who break the law will have to face the necessary consequences for their actions,” he added. Since Persad’s abduction, his family has held prayer services at their Indian Walk, Moruga, home. Several persons have visited the family with a message of hope that little Vijay will return home safely. The search is being concentrated in Moruga because there is a strong feeling that the abductors may be holding the child in that area.

A total of 16 people have been taken into police custody for questioning by the police since the abduction. Fifteen have been released and only one still remains in custody. Vijay is the second child to be abducted in the last few months. Four-year-old Saada Singh was taken from her Vistabella pre-school but was safely returned to her family. Four people — two men and two women — are now on charges for her abduction. On Thursday evening, Minister of Education Hazel Manning visited Vijay’s family to lend support. Vijay Persad, son of Ragkummar and Marilyn Persad was abducted on June 21 around 8 pm outside his father’s small grocery at Indian Walk, Moruga Road, Moruga, and was taken away by three armed men who escaped on foot through some nearby bushes with the child. The family was contacted by the child’s abductors in which a $500,000 ransom was demanded.