Raffique Shah robbed at home

NEWSPAPER columnist and head of the Trinidad Islandwide Cane Farmers Association (TICFA) Raffique Shah was held up and robbed of cash and jewelry by two bandits who stormed his Abdul Street, Claxton Bay home on Thursday night.

Contacted yesterday, Shah who is chairman of TICFA, reported that around 7.30 pm, he was watching the evening news on television when two men, one armed with a gun, accosted his wife Rosina, who was sitting in the front porch.  Shah said the bandit placed the gun to her head and ordered her into the living room where he was sitting on the couch. He added that the men, whom he described as “nondescript,” were not wearing masks and appeared to be in their early 20s.

Shah said the men threatened to shoot him and his wife if they failed to comply with their demands for cash and jewelry. The prominent trade unionist said the men took $1,000 from his wallet, his credit card, Linx card, drivers permit and several small pieces of his wife’s jewelry. Shah said the men also kept asking for the family’s passports and eventually found his passport in a bedroom drawer. The bandits, who had a large duffel bag, also took a Canon camera, a pair of binoculars and several pairs of sneakers.

Shah told Newsday the intruders also demanded the keys to his car, but he persuaded them not to take the vehicle. The bandits then damaged a telephone and attempted to tie him up with a length of electrical cord attached to a heater. They then escaped on foot. Shah said the entire incident lasted approximately ten minutes and left his wife a “little traumatised.

Police believe the same bandits who held up Shah were also behind another robbery at Savonetta, Couva, in which a customer at a bar was robbed of his car. According to reports, at around 10.20 pm, two men accosted patrons at Susie’s Bar, Savonetta, and after forcing customers to lie on the floor, took the keys to a grey Nissan B15 Sentra belonging to Rasheed Mohammed. Investigations are continuing.