Four suspects, including two police constables, a contractor and a labourer, who were arrested for the kidnapping of Natalie Pollonais, will spend the weekend in custody as investigations into the kidnapping continue.
Although it has been more than 48 hours since they were arrested, the four men are being kept at undisclosed locations and are being interrogated separately. The contractor, aged 36, of Princes Town, is represented by an attorney, while the labourer, of La Brea, is unrepresented. The two police officers, who are attached to the La Romaine Police Post, also have legal representation.
A senior police officer yesterday said all of the suspects have the right to make an application for habeas corpuses to decide if their detention was valid or lawful. However, he said the continued detention four accused has been appraised and the police have sufficient grounds to justify to a judge why they have been detained since Monday.
The senior police source also said any citizen who is arrested can be detained for up to 24 hours but thereafter the police can detain someone without charge for seven days with the permission of a magistrate or a senior-ranked police officer.
“In this case, we are facing a long and tedious investigation and at this point, we are not close to laying any charges,” the source said.
Asked whether the men will be appearing in court on Monday, the source said that would depend on the direction the investigation this weekend.
Three of the four suspects were arrested shortly after Pollonais was rescued while being transported in an AD wagon along the Churchill Roosevelt Highway in San Juan.
Pollonais was abducted last Thursday after she left the C3 Shopping Complex in San Fernando. She left the gym and told her family she was going to visit a friend in Palmiste, but when she did not show up an alarm was raised.