Kamla’s niece, driver carjacked

The midnight blue Prado, registration number PCJ 3, remained in the hands of the brazen gunmen for close to two hours before it was later found at the NUGFW Housing Development, Spring Village, Valsayn at about 4.30 pm yesterday.

The SUV was locked and nothing appeared to be stolen leading investigators to believe the carjacking was meant to send a message to Persad-Bissessar. Police sources are not ruling out that the incident may have been an attempted kidnapping.

However, last evening, Acting Police Commissioner James Philbert said the carjacking was not politically-motivated.

“We believe that following extensive investigations, the motive was robbery. We do not think it was politically motivated,” Philbert said at a media conference at the Police Administration Building in Port-of-Spain.

The SUV was stolen at gunpoint from Persad-Bissessar’s personal driver Denzil Dookeran, 27, and her niece and personal assistant Alicia Harry, 25, shortly after leaving the Centre of Excellence in Macoya where the People’s Partnership manifesto launch took place.

Persad-Bissessar, who had remained with supporters in Macoya, was informed of the carjacking and she spoke with head of the Northern Division Snr Supt Joseph Edwards.

Police reports revealed that shortly after 2.30 pm, Dookeran and Harry were driving west along Streatham Lodge Road, Tunapuna, near the Tunapuna Hindu School when two men in a silver Almera car blocked the Prado.

The gunmen, who wore bullet-proof vests, ordered Harry and Dookeran out of the SUV and told them to run. One of the men took control of the Prado while the other returned to the Almera car and they sped away.

Harry contacted Persad-Bissessar who informed the police. The head of Persad-Bissessar’s security detail, Aaron Henry, went to Tunapuna and Harry and Dookeran were taken to the Tunapuna police station where they were interviewed by Edwards and a team of officers.

They gave a description of the two gunmen and an All Points Bulletin (APB) was sent out to all police divisions to be on the lookout for the stolen SUV.

Newsday understands that Harry and Dookeran were on their way to Siparia to prepare for last night’s public meeting at Penal Junction when they were held up.

Sources said several persons made donations to the People’s Partnership after the manifesto launch and that money was in the Prado SUV.

As a result of the incident, security around Persad-Bissessar was increased last evening and security officers who carry out escort duties for the UNC leader were doubled up.

At the meeting, Persad-Bissessar disclosed that important personal documents were taken from the SUV, hinting that the incident was not a simple robbery. She said her niece and driver were traumatised.

And Prime Minister Patrick Manning speaking last night at a PNM meeting in Mayaro referred to the incident.

He said he had heard of a “reported threat of an attempted kidnapping on the relative of the charming lady (Persad-Bissessar). If the threat turns out to be true, the PNM condemns it in the strongest possible terms, but I want to hear what the police have to say.”

In a statement before last night’s meeting, the People’s Partnership described the incident “as traumatic and typical of what occurs across the country every single day”. play online casinos for real money http://casinoonline367.com . the best slot machines and casino news on our website.

“These experiences are what have unfortunately become the sad state of affairs in the nation where no one, not even Persad-Bissessar, can take their personal safety and that of their family for granted.” The release also noted the manner in which Manning has dealt with crime by describing victims as “collateral damage” and how he had dismissed the threat on Persad-Bissessar’s life as a hoax. The coalition partnership said this underscored “the root of the problem where the leader of the country displays such scant regard for what has become a national crisis”.