Magistrate, family tied up and robbed

SENIOR MAGISTRATE Lucina Cardenas-Ragoonanan and her family were held at the mercy of four armed bandits who robbed them of thousands of dollars in cash and jewelry early yesterday morning. Cardenas-Ragoonanan and her husband, contractor Harry Ragoonanan, and the couple’s son, were tied up and forced to lie on the ground at gunpoint inside their home at Palmiste, San Fernando. Cardenas-Ragoonanan currently presides in the Family Court, Port-of-Spain. Ragoonanan is an activist in the People’s National Movement and friend of Prime Minister Patrick Manning.

A police report stated that E-999 police officers responded to a telephone call and went to Cardenas-Ragoonanan’s home at Quail Valley, Block Five, Palmiste at about 2.50 am. The report stated that four men had entered the house armed with guns and cutlasses. Investigators believe the armed bandits gained entry by climbing into a verandah, some 15 feet from the ground. After prising open a door, the men accosted the Ragoonanans in their bed. They tied up Ragoonanan, his son and the magistrate. The men, who were wearing masks, then proceeded to pack cash and jewelry into a bag. They also took a safety deposit box. Police yesterday said that fingerprint experts had recovered several workable prints from a bedroom in the house.