Arshad Mohammed, the abduction victim, was hog-tied with straps and had a severed seatbelt. He was bleeding from his wrists and feet and was sitting under a coconut tree, crying out in a desperate attempt to survive.
When he screamed, a goat farmer heard and responded, saving his life while the kidnappers tried to talk him out of paying a $500,000 ransom.
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Speaking to the media, Arshad expressed his gratitude to the Basta Hall, Couva, farmers who he said saved his life and that he may have died otherwise. Mohammed recalled the horrifying incident in which two armed men tied him up and shoved him into the back seat of his Nissan X-Trail when he was going to drop off his mother, Annie Mohammed, in their yard at Rahamut Trace, Woodland.
Mohammed said that the guys had hidden his face and that they had asked him intimate questions while savagely beating him on the head.
Mohammed expressed his amazement at the men’s extensive knowledge of him and his family’s farming operations.
“They were asking me questions and if I took too long to answer, they would hit me on the top of my head,” he noted.
When pressed for details, Mohammed replied: “One man asked where I was living, and what vehicle I drove. While transporting me, they had my face covered. They covered me with a red jumper. When we reached wherever they carried me, they took me out of the van and told me not to run. They said they were going to take off the tie from my hand. They told me today is the day I will die.”
Mohammed said that after the guys bound him with seatbelt straps, they abandoned him in the jungle and threatened to arrange a $100,000 ransom. Rather, they want $500,000.
Mohammed claimed to have prayed for assistance while the sun scorched his head. “There was plenty of bush. Jeps were flying around. I wasn’t thinking about myself. I was thinking about my parents. I heard a vehicle passing, so I started to shout ‘Help! Help!’” he shared.
“The driver stopped and came out and said, ‘What happened, boy?’ I said two men kidnapped me from where I was living and brought me up here,” Mohammed noted.
When the farmer came back with assistance, the cops had also shown up at the scene of the incident.
Mohammed claimed that after being brought to the Couva District Hospital, he received treatment for cuts on his head, wrists, and feet.
Mohammed, who was disgusted by the crime rate, advised other entrepreneurs to exercise caution.
His father, bar owner Ashmir Mohammed, stated he had no intention of remaining in Trinidad and Tobago.
“We work so hard, we employ 50 people. Sometimes we work 16 hours a day. We are so hurt and traumatized by this. The way we are living in Trinidad is like we are living in a prison,” he noted.
“My whole intention now is to get my family out of this country; if we are not happy, we cannot stay here. We cannot even carry on our business as we want to.”
In the meantime, Dr. Roodal Moonilal, the MP for Oropouche East, voiced his displeasure over the kidnapping. He also advised company owners to exercise caution.
“It seems Debe and Penal are now hotspots for high crime, violent crimes, and home invasions,” he said.
Shiva Lochan, 28, a Debe electrician, was kidnapped on December 7 of last year after leaving his house in a business van to work on a private contract in Palmiste. Ten days later, his horribly decayed body was discovered. He died from a gunshot wound to the head, according to an autopsy.
