Trini in Guyana held for faking kidnapping

A Trinidadian national was held in Guyana for allegedly faking his own kidnapping.

According to a report yesterday on kaieteurnewsonline, Sawak Maraj, a mechanical engineer, claimed to have been abducted from the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri, early on Friday.

He reportedly left the airport in a taxi and was heading to a hotel on the East Bank Demerara when he disappeared. At the time, he was coming to Guyana to attend a job interview with Exxon Mobil.

A reservation was made for Maraj at the hotel on Thursday, the day that he was scheduled to check in, but Maraj only arrived in Guyana on a Caribbean Airlines flight at around 7 am on Friday.

Shortly after the engineer left the airport, a photograph of him with someone holding a cutlass to his neck, was sent to his parents and other relatives in TT.

It is alleged the “kidnappers” threatened to kill their victim if a ransom was not paid. The engineer’s family immediately made contact with the Guyana Police Force and forwarded the photograph. Kaieteur News said it was told that local police were able to track the phone number the “kidnappers” used to make contact with Maraj’s relatives and trace the location where the call was made.

Police were immediately mobilised from around Georgetown and sent to the location in a bid to rescue the “victim.” On arrival at the hotel, they took up strategic positions.

They were then puzzled when they entered the room where the “victim” was being held and found him relaxing on a sofa, drinking a can of fruit juice. He was not bound or gagged.

Maraj was escorted to the Criminal Investigation Unit where he was interrogated. Two other persons who allegedly assisted in making the reservation are also in police custody, the report said.