Melissa Samaroo, 26, who is unemployed, said she was was born at the house in Apparicio Avenue, Petit Bourg and lived there all of her life. Her father lived at the house with his female companion. When he died, Samaroo said she continued living in the house with her seven children.

Yesterday at 9.30 am, the man arrived with document and claimed to be the legal owner of the property. He demanded that Samaroo and her children immediately vacate the premises.

With the help of some men, they removed Samaroo’s belongings onto the roadside.

During the eviction, some louvre panes were smashed.

Santa Cruz police were alerted while Samaroo’s neighbours pleaded with the man to allow her and the children to stay in the house until some alternative arrangement could be made.

When police arrived, they advised the man that he could not effect an eviction in such a manner. After the man left, Samaroo’s neighbours cleaned up the broken glass and began placing her belongings back into the house.

While this was being done, others neighbours took Samaroo’s children into their care while she left to seek advice from an attorney. Yesterday, Samaroo’s cousin Julia Harris said that shortly after 3 pm, the man who is claiming to be the owner of the house, returned and told neighbours that he would be back to clear out the house.

Harris said that Samaroo’s has nowhere else to go and if she is evicted, it would mean she and her seven children would be out on the road. Harris appealed to the relevant authorities to intervene.

Harris said Samaroo is a single parent who is struggling to make ends meet and is in no position to pay a rent or purchase a house.

In one incident, a 19-yearold Diego Martin man was shot dead on Duncan Street in Portof- Spain in the morning. Then, yesterday evening, two unidentified men were found shot dead inside a car in Laventille.

The teen has been identified as Kadeem Richardson of Factory Road, Diego Martin. According to police, gunshots were heard on Duncan Street just before 9 am. Residents made a report to the Duncan Street police post and when police responded, they found Richardson’s bullet- riddled body in a track off Duncan Street.

When officers realised the teen was still alive, they rushed him to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

His body was removed to the Forensic Science Centre in St James for autopsy.

No family member answered Newsday’s call at Richardson’s home in Diego Martin but residents described him as a friendly young man. Police sources said no motive has been established for Richardson’s murder.

Then at 5.30 pm, police were called to the scene of a double murder in Laventille. Residents of St Rose Street off Belgrade Street, were jolted by rapid gunfire.

When they checked, minutes later, they found the bodies of two men leaning on each other inside a blue Mazda 323 bearing the licence plate numbers, PBO 8660.

A report was made and police visited the scene and cordoned off the area. Police said that no forms of identification were found in the car and in the victims.

They added that they would try to make a positive ID via their fingerprint database.

While police were processing the scene, residents lamented on the state of crime.

“Is only a set of stupid young boys killing out each other,” a resident said. Others said that the area where the double murder occurred is usually quiet and that the victims were not known by anyone living in the area. Up to press time, police were still at the scene in Laventille continuing their investigations.

On Friday last, National Security Minister Edmund Dillon and Acting Deputy Commissioner of Police Wayne Dick toured Enterprise, Chaguanas after a bloody week of near daily murders flared up in the community. There they met Wakeel who, prior to the meeting, published a video on Facebook in which he named several police officers who he claimed were corrupt and contributing to crime in the area.

In their presence, Wakeel began speaking about the underlying causes of crime in Enterprise before Dillon stopped him to ask if he would be willing to provide said information to the police.

Wakeel agreed to do so but has not yet spoken with the police.

In an interview with Newsday, Al-Rawi sent one message to Wakeel.

“Step forward and speak,” he said. “Convert ole talk into evidence. It can’t just be that the ministers alone or the TTPS (Police Service) alone can do this job by themselves. It is time for the old talk to finish. The armchair mentality in our country of just bad-talking is enjoyable for many, but if we are really serious about it, everybody has to step forward because those who are in crime in this country are a minority.”

KRYSIS NOT NEEDED FOR INVESTIGATIONS

Meanwhile, Umar Abdullah, head of the Islamic Front and the man leading the charge to bring peace to Enterprise, told Newsday yesterday that independent bodies like the Police Complaints Authority, the investigative arm of the TTPS and the Professional Standards Bureau do not need someone to come forward to launch an investigation into Wakeel’s allegations.

“(They) owe the country that responsibility whether or not people come to them personally or willingly as the case may be,” Abdullah said.

“I mean it is all over the newspapers, all over Facebook, anywhere you go you are reading about it.

So these powers that be and these independent institutions, if it is they want to put their head in the sand like ostriches and pretend that they do not know what is happening and do not launch an investigation, I will officially make that call on Friday.” Al-Rawi said Abdullah was right to say these bodies could conduct investigations on their own, but “Any investigation, obviously, is materially assisted by having a witness who can speak to information.” Abdullah said Wakeel has not spoken with the police because he is concerned about whether he would be treated fairly especially after his interaction with Dillon and Dick.

“I was very disappointed in the way the minister of National Security and ACP Wayne Dick addressed the young man,” said Abdullah.

“I think it is indicative of us as a people when we have sensitive matters like these, we forget that there is an approach called social intervention and we continue to believe that military might is going to solve our problems. The TTPS in this particular instance and instances like these throughout the country do not need military might, what we need is social might.”

Cheques are being processed and it is anticipated that payment will be effected by the respective RHAs between Thursday and Friday,

The incident occurred on April 12, 2012, the same day they celebrated their 59th wedding anniversary .

Indra succumbed to her injuries two days later at Port-of Spain General hospital. A year later, Sugrim died, of what his children are calling, a broken heart as he grieved deeply for his dead wife .

The couple lived at Calcutta Road No 4 off the Southern Main Road in Freeport. At the time of the attack, they had just returned from Chaguanas where Sugrim visited a doctor. They had also just cashed their pension cheques. Sugrim was beaten while his wife was battered into unconsciousness. An autopsy confirmed Indra died from massive injuries to her head which included a fractured skull. She was a mother of six .

Draupadi Gangabissoon yesterday told Newsday she and her sisters think of their mother and the manner in which she died, every day. Added to their pain is the fact that her killer has not been arrested .

“At that age, you would expect your parent to die from an illness or accident. My mother had the life beaten out of her by a person who remains at large. Each day, for the past five years, I wonder if this monster will ever be caught,” Draupadi said. She described her mother’s killer as a “monster” and said if he has any conscience at all, to come forward. A CrimeStoppers reward of $100,000 remains unclaimed .

“We must bring this perpetrator to justice. When will the government get their act together and start bringing these criminals to justice .

Since my mother’s death, Trinidad’s murder statistic has been rising at a ridiculous rate with no decrease in sight. Only yesterday, in the Portof- Spain Division, three murders were committed .

Draupadi recalled that in 2015, she and her sister Saroj traveled to India, taking their parents’ ashes to the Ganges River where they performed a ritual known as Pinda Daan for them. “Our father died the year after our mother’s murder .

While doctors said he died of old age, I believe he died of a broken heart. Life without his wife, was not worth anything to him,” she said .

She is hopeful that five years on, some form of justice could still be had. “In our fight for justice, we must fight to have cold cases like my mother’s, which perhaps might be sitting on someone’s desk collecting dust, reopened. Let’s try to balance the scales of justice in Trinidad,” Draupadi said .

“Even if you cannot aid in respect to my mother’s murder, other crimes can be solved if people would just come forward and contact the authorities,” she added .

This article was based on a statement issued by Tabaquite MP Dr Surujrattan Rambachan on the issue of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)/ Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). In his statement, Dr Rambachan is quoted as saying, “On April 22nd 2016 the assurance was given by the Minister that steps will be taken to implement the decision relevant to the motion. This in accordance with the standing orders. It is becoming clearer that little or nothing is being done in schools to deal with children with ADD/ ADHD.” Yesterday’s article interpreted the minister identified by Rambachan to be Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh.

Rambachan yesterday informed Newsday that the minister he was referring to in his statement was Education Minister Anthony Garcia and not Minister Deyalsingh. The error is regretted.

The jury returned yesterday in the morning for continued hearing after the State closed it case on Thursday March 23 in the trial in which Anand Baboolal, 41, of Mayaro, is accused of killing Ria Ramlochan, 26, and her 18-month-old child in 2005.

Justice Althea Alexis-Windsor told the 12 members of the panel to return today because yesterday’s proceedings did not involve them.

Senior State Attorney Shaabana Shah, together with State Attorney Chantal Hospedales, is prosecuting in the trial in which 14 witnesses were called by the prosecution. Seven witness despositions were tendered and read to the jury.

Baboolal is alleged to have stabbed Ramlochan on August 13 at her home in Solomon Street, Mayaro.

Her body was discovered in a latrine pit at her home. Her baby boy, Ishmael Timothy Ragbir, was found floating in Ortoire River at Mafeking Village, Mayaro not far from where Ramlochan lived.

However, Teeluckdharry Bridgelal, 55, of Debe, will have to undergo counselling sessions locally in order for him to learn how to control his temper, a magistrate so ordered yesterday after she found him guilty of malicious damage to property. The charge alleged that at Gandhi Village, Debe, near Penal, Bridgelal took up a pick axe and smashed the vehicle owned by his brother, Gangaram Bridgelal. The incident happened in September last year and Teeluckdharry pleaded not guilty.

After a trial before Magistrate Kerrianne Byer, he was found guilty and yesterday before sentence was passed, Bridgelal told the magistrate that he paid his brother $40,000 in compensation.

In passing sentence, Byer told Teeluckdharry that she took note of the fact that the reason for the attack stemmed from an old incident between the brothers a year ago. “You held a grudge against your brother for over a year.

How do you and your brother get along?” You think your action was reasonable?” Byer asked Teeluckdharry.

The charge was laid by Police Constable Matloo of the San Fernando CID.

The magistrate then asked Teeluckdharry if he ever underwent anger management and he said that ten years ago, he had counselling in the United States.

Byer asked him if the classes helped the situation and Bridgelal said he believed it did. The magistrate pointed out that such a charge carries a custodial sentence, but she considered Bridgelal’s clean previous criminal record and the fact that he had adequately compensated his brother for the damage.

However, she ordered him to pay a fine of $5,000 or serve a year in jail. Magistrate Byer further ordered that Bridgelal be placed on six months probation.

He is to report to the probation office in San Fernando, where officers there would arrange an anger management programme for him.

Kerry Perrot, 25, appeared before Senior Magistrate Nanette Forde-John who read to him the charge that on Saturday, he assaulted Police Constable Lee- Lum of the San Fernando CID.

The charge arose from an incident in which the officer was attacked inside the San Fernando Police Station and he suffered a broken nose bridge.

The magistrate also read to Perrot another charge that he was in possession of 15.59 grammes of cocaine. A third charge read to him alleged that he was in possession of 3.7 grammes of marijuana.

The three charges arose from an incident on Saturday in which Perrot was arrested and taken to the station where he was placed in a cell. Yesterday, the court police prosecutor attorney Cleyon Seedan, objected to bail being granted on the grounds that the police complainant Corporal Roger Nanan, needed to conduct a search of the criminal record, if any, of the accused .

The magistrate, however, granted Perrot bail in the sum of $45,000 to reappear on May 1.

On his arrival at Tower C, Khan was warmly welcomed by staffers.

Khan expressed gratitude to his well-wishers for their prayers, support and words of encouragement during his period of convalescence.

He fell ill last December while he and wife Laura were on vacation in Thailand. He underwent surgery in TT in January.

Last July, Khan was hospitalised as he underwent a stent procedure at a private hospital to treat blocked arteries in the heart. On Sunday, he paid special tribute to his wife for helping him to recuperate.

Khan assured ministry staff, energy industry stakeholders and the population that he, “Remains absolutely committed to working tirelessly to achieve the goals of growth, profitability and sustainability in the energy sector.” Finance Minister Colm Imbert acted as energy minister while Khan was recuperating. In addition to tending to matters at his ministry, Khan also attended yesterday’s Cabinet’s Finance and General Purposes (FGP) Committee, which is chaired by Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister Stuart Young. Khan, who is also Leader of Government Business in the Senate, said he is eager to be back in Parliament today.

“On Tuesday, I resume duties in the Senate,” he said yesterday.

Trade and Industry Minister Paula Gopee-Scoon acted in this post in Khan’s absence.

The Senate sits at Tower D of the Port-of-Spain International Waterfront Centre from today at 1.30 pm, to debate on the International Financial organisations (Corporacion Andina de Fomento) Bill, 2017. This bill, which will be piloted by Imbert, was passed in the House of Representatives on March 15.