Mainland kidnappers grab two fishermen

INTERPOL (International Police) has intervened in what may be the nation’s first international kidnapping incident, in which two Morne Diablo brothers were  reportedly abducted on the high seas and taken to the Venezuelan mainland. The brothers, who are fishermen — Balchan Heeralal, 27, and Alan Heeralal 23 — were abducted yesterday during a fishing trip off the south-western coast. Yesterday, relatives received telephone calls from Spanish-speaking men who demanded a ransom of US$15,000 for their safe return. According to a police report, the Heeralal brothers and two other fishermen, known only as Dillon and Rodney, had anchored a 27-foot pirogue known as “Ralphy” on the Morne Diablo beach on Thursday.

The report stated that Spanish-speaking men held up the four at gunpoint and ordered them back into the boat. The abductors then ordered the local fishermen back out to sea, and they journeyed to the Venezuelan mainland. Police said Dillon and Rodney reported that they had been released, but Balchan and Alan were taken away by their captors. The pirogue’s owner, Ralphy Ramnath, said he filed a report at the Penal Police Station last Friday about the four missing at sea, but Ramnath told Newsday yesterday that Dillon and Rodney contacted him, and he picked them up at the Erin Beach. Both had hitched a ride from a Trinidadian who was about to leave the Venezuelan mainland. Yesterday, Ramnath, 32, said he received a telephone call at 10 am on Monday in which a male caller demanded a ransom of US$15,000. “I heard a man speaking English like he was translating for someone speaking Spanish in the background. They said they wanted US$15,000 or they will kill the boys. I asked them why they are doing this, but they only repeated that they will kill them if I do not give them the money.”

Ramnath said the abductors allowed him to speak to Balchan, who begged for help. He also said the caller spoke of exchanging the brothers for the ransom money along a particular river in the mainland. “But they didn’t call back today (Tuesday) so I don’t know what to do,” Ramnath said. Police told Newsday that in enlisting Interpol, the Ministry of National Security has contacted the Venezuelan police on the matter. “The local Police Service may not have the resources that Interpol may have as we try to deal with this kidnapping case,” a senior policeman said yesterday. Yesterday, Balchan’s mother, Kaloutie Heeralal, 53, told Newsday that she believes her sons were being held captive because they were mistaken. Heeralal said she had no money to pay a ransom and made a tearful plea for her sons to be released unharmed. “I am praying for them to come back to me,” she sobbed. Balchan’s wife and the mother of his three children, Alisha Mano, said she was worried for her husband’s safety. “The children are only calling for their father,” Mano said.