Residents of Penal and Debe are calling on Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar to extend the curfew to all areas within the Penal/Debe Regional Corporation, after the kidnapping and subsequent rescue of the granddaughter of hardware dealer Beekham Gunness. The kidnapping took place around 2 pm while the 19-year-old girl was returning from her hairdresser at Ramai Trace, Debe. The teenager, who is expected to begin studies at the University of the West Indies from September, told police just as she got into her car, two men opened the door and entered the vehicle. They threatened to kill her if she screamed and ordered her to drive. Investigators said the terrified girl obeyed instructions and told the men not to harm her and that she would comply with their instructions.
However, she secretly managed to send a message to her father, using speed dial. "He called back and she started to scream that they had kidnapped her," a close relative revealed. The girl's father and some of his brothers immediately contacted the police. Detectives from the Debe, Penal and Barrackpore police stations, headed by ACP Fitzroy Frederick and Senior Supt Hackshaw, quickly mobilised teams and began tracking the car. Sources said the men began beating the girl on her head and face after she called her father. However, sources said, upon reaching Tulsa Trace, the police intercepted the car which crashed in an embankment. The officers managed to arrest one of the suspects-17-years-old, of Barrackpore. Another suspect remained at large up late yesterday.
Police said they believed that the kidnappers were planning on transferring the girl to another car which was tailing her vehicle. The girl was said to be in a traumatised state yesterday and was unavailable for comment. Her relatives, however, said criminals were moving into areas which they believed were not being monitored by the police. Chairman of Penal/Debe Regional Corporation Premchand Sookoo said the curfew should be extended to Penal/Debe. He commended the police for swift action, saying that for far too long, residents of his area were being held under siege by criminals. Sookoo said most people felt safe by the state of emergency but since the kidnapping, fear has gripped the area. He added that most people were abiding by the curfew hours but wanted a stronger police presence in the area. Several business people who were interviewed, but declined to go on record, said they were fearful that criminals would take revenge once the state of emergency came to an end.