Family prays for teen’s safe release

THERE were no celebrations at the house of Williamsville teenager, Rajiv Changoor, who remains in the hands of his abductors. Yesterday marked eight days since 19-year-old Changoor was snatched by three gunmen in front of his home at Eccles Village. Instead of last-minute Christmas Eve preparations, his mother, Carol, said the family held a prayer service at their home on Saturday evening for her son’s return. “We didn’t prepare anything,” she said. “Everyone is just holding on and praying for him to come home.” Changoor is a student at the School of Business and Computer Science, Mt Hope, and his family owns a grocery in Williamsville. Reports circulated that a ransom of $1 million was demanded by kidnappers, but these were denied by police and relatives.

During the week, a combined team of policemen from the Anti-Kidnapping Squad, Canine Unit, Princes Town and Gasparillo Police Stations and helicopters searched the Central and Tabaquite forests for clues into Changoor’s kidnapping, but turned up empty. Changoor was kidnapped on Saturday December 17 outside his home. The report stated that the teenager drove up in front of his family’s grocery and honked the horn to alert his father that he had returned home, when he was held up at gunpoint by a man. Reports said Changoor was dragged out of the vehicle as another gunman stood guard in front of the glass door of the grocery. With the help of a third gunman, they forced the struggling Changoor into the backseat of a waiting silver-grey car. His mother said she was sending out her love to her son wherever he was. “I miss him very much and I want him to know that the whole family is praying for him to come back home,” she said. Investigations are continuing.