‘Tabanca get me dotish’

TWO fake kidnap victims were each jailed yesterday in the San Fernando Magistrates’ Court to 30 days with hard labour. One of the the men who claimed he had been kidnapped told the magistrate: “The tabanca get me dotish.”

In the first instance, Johnathon Ramcharan, 30, of Gasparillo, who claimed he was kidnapped from JTA Carlton Centre Mall on Wednesday around midday, appeared before magistrate Kerri-Anne Byer before whom he pleaded guilty to wasteful employment of the police.

The prosecutor, Sgt Krishna Beedasie, told Byer that police had launched a full-scale investigation into Johnathon’s alleged kidnapping, based on a telephone call to his mother. He requested $100,000 to pay his ‘kidnapper’.

Yesterday morning, the prosecutor told the magistrate, police officers interviewed Ramcharan at the San Fernando Police Station. They then laid the charge.

Attorney Subhas Panday pleaded for Ramcharan, saying that based on his instructions, he was threatened by certain people with whom he had conducted a certain business transaction.

In passing sentence, Byer told Ramcharan that it was not merely a false report, but he made the nation tense. Various arms of the police service were involved in the investigations, she said. Moreover, he requested money from his mother to pay what believed was a ransom.

After Ramcharan was handcuffed and led away, police officers brought in Kevin Ramroop, 22, of Tarouba, near San Fernando.

Beedasie said that he left home at about 10.40 am on Wednesday and his sister saw a message on her cell phone that he was kidnapped and a ransom of $60,000 was demanded.

At about 12.20 pm yesterday, police officers saw Ramroop standing on the roadside in Gasparillo. The court heard that he told the police that he emotionally stressed and he sent the message.

Attorney Dane Halls who represented him, told Byer that Ramroop had seen an image of his ex-girlfriend and “he said that tripped him off.” And when he was interviewed by the police, he said, “The tabanca get me dotish.” He also was taken away to serve the 30 days in jail.