Kidnappers demand $1M ransom for schoolboy

Kidnappers have demanded a $1 million ransom for the safe release of the country’s 20th kidnap victim, Simon Persad. Late Monday, a male kidnapper telephoned Marguerite Persad, the mother of  kidnap victim Nigel Persad and demanded the ransom. Yesterday, relatives awaited further word from the kidnappers. Police officers investigating the kidnapping of the 18-year-old victim  believe that the wrong person may have been abducted. Persad, who lives with his mother at Strathy’s Avenue in Diego Martin, was attending a birthday party at Riverside Road in Maraval last Friday night when he was snatched by two men in a heavily-tinted silver-grey Nissan Medalist.

Friends of the kidnapped teenager, who witnessed the kidnapping, alerted the St Clair Police  who called in the Anti-Kidnapping Squad. At the home of the kidnap victim, friends and relatives gathered to lend support. Marguerite is a Latin dance instructor and her husband, Parris, is a sales representative with Colonial Life Insurance (CLICO). He lives in Santa Cruz. The kidnap victim is a student of Downer’s Finishing School in Port-of-Spain. Senior AKS officers told Newsday they are exploring several leads in the kidnapping, and feel that the wrong person may have been taken. AKS officers were interviewing several persons who witnessed the kidnapping up to late yesterday. The kidnapped teen’s parents were reported to be too distraught to say anything about the incident, but relatives and friends revealed that prayers are being said daily with the hope that Simon is freed unharmed.