Kidnapped teen released

KIDNAP victim Rajiv Changoor, 19, got a belated Christmas Day present — his freedom — after he was released during the early morning hours yesterday. Police sources confirmed that a small ransom was paid to Changoor’s kidnappers. Around 2.30 am, Changoor was dropped off along the lonely Rivulet Road in Couva. Moments later, he was in the arms of his weeping mother Carol, who waited for his return in front the family’s Eccles Village, Williamsville home. The family members own and operate a supermarket on the ground floor of their home. Carol, who had prayed for kidnappers to release her son as a Christmas gift to her, admitted that a very small ransom was paid to the abductors to secure their son’s release.

Nine days ago, a group of men pulled up in front of Changoor’s supermarket and bundled Rajiv into their car and sped off. The kidnappers initially demanded $1 million for Rajiv’s safe release. When Newsday visited the family’s home yesterday, Carol and son Rajiv were both resting. Speaking through locked burglar-proofed doors of the family business yesterday, the relieved mother said she was indeed grateful that the kidnappers did not ill-treat her son. “He has no physical marks of violence but he just needed food. He has been eating ever since he came home,” Carol said. “Right now, he is not in a position to speak. He’s weak and just keep asking for something to eat.”

The family received a telephone call shortly before midnight on Sunday from the kidnappers as final arrangements were made. Rajiv is a student of the School of Business and Computer Science. Although they had to pay a ransom, the Changoor family was high in praise for the investigative powers and diligence of the officers that make up the Anti-Kidnapping Squad (AKS) who were leading investigations into the kidnapping. Carol said she was impressed by the AKS officers, who she added, “worked with us from the beginning to the end.” “A lot of negative things are being said about the AKS, but I want to tell the population that they are trying.”