El Socorro teenager snatched from shed

According to reports, Nicholas Mahabir, 17, was liming with friends Raffique Hosein, Mark Chin Ying and two other teenagers in a shed at Don Miguel Extension Road at 9.30 pm, when a white car with four armed men pulled up.

The men, who shielded their faces with bandanas, pointed guns at the teenagers. The gunmen then beat the teenagers before dragging Mahabir into the car and speeding away.

When Newsday visited the family’s Sadoo Trace home in El Socorro, Mahabir’s teary-eyed mother, Ragwatee Mohammed, could not come to terms with the kidnapping. However, the boy’s father, Willie Mahabir, an agent of Flavourite Foods Ltd, begged the kidnappers to release his son.

"We have no money. The business I do is a day-to-day business. Sometimes I make some money, sometimes I do not.

"My son, who left school at junior secondary level, sometimes works in the business selling ice-cream. Many times we are catching our tails to survive.

"Please release my son, a mistake was made, we understand. All I want is my son returned."

no ransom demands had been made up to press time. There have been 35 kidnappings for ransom in 2005, and five kidnap victims are still missing.

Anti-Kidnapping Squad sources confirmed they are working on several leads.