UWI kidnap victim rescued in Caura

NALINEE SEELAL and SHANE SUPERVILLE

POLICE LAST NIGHT rescued Maria Dass-Supersad, 26, who was kidnapped from the University of the West Indies (UWI) St Augustine yesterday afternoon. She was rescued, according to police “uharmed” at a location in Caura.

Police said they arrested two men, one wearing a police jacket and the other in camouflage gear. Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith was “actively involved and co-ordinated the exercise.”

Dass-Supersad was taken to the Eric Williams Sciences Complex for a medical check up last night. Dass-Supersad’s relatives said they were grateful for the professional manner police reacted and they thanked Griffith. “Griffith did a great job,” one relative told Newsday last night.

Dass-Supersad was grabbed at gunpoint yesterday by two men, one dressed in police uniform and the other dressed in army fatigues.

Frightened students could only look on helplessly as Dass-Supersad was snatched by the two men as she made her way to the car park near the north gate of the campus shortly after 3.15 pm.

Dass-Seepersad, who is the Commercialisation Manager in the Office of Institutional Advancement & Internationalisation, had earlier spoken to her mother to say she was getting ready to leave work for the day. When her mother tried to contact her minutes later, Supersad’s phone was switched off.

Police reports say Dass-Supersad was seen walking towards her car when she was approached by the two kidnappers, who fired several shots into the air, then bundled the screaming woman into a white Nissan Tiida. The car was later traced to its owner who lives in Cunupia.

Police determined the registration number on the car was fake. CCTV footage showed the kidnappers driving through the tunnel close to the UWI campus and then onto the Eastern Main Road, where they disappeared with Dass-Supersad.

Eyewitnesses contacted the E999 Command Centre Northern Division police, who went to the campus along with Anti Kidnapping Unit (AKU) officers and interviewed several eyewitnesses. The area around the north gate was locked down as police took up positions at the crime scene. They reportedly found a number of spent shells which showed the kidnappers had fired several times during the snatch. An eyewitness later took to social media writing: “OMG y’all I just witnessed a kidnapping in UWI, one car in front of me and bullets flying. I am so shaken up:::be careful out there:: the lady’s car just parked there empty now wds sad.” A WhatsApp message read: “there is an unconfirmed story going around by North Gate a girl was walking passed a car with a Staff Parking Sticker, a man grabbed her and took her away. They shot out to prevent anyone from following” Sources said police contacted Dass-Supersad’s relatives, who gave them information and photos. Management at UWI and security officers also gave the police information about Dass-Supersad.

Police Commissioner Gary Griffith and Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of Crime Irwin Hackshaw were alerted and officers from the Special Operations Response Team (SORT) as well as the Strategic Services Agency (SSA) teamed up with AKU and Northern Division officers to find Dass-Supersad. Newsday visited the campus and spoke to President of the UWI Student Guild Darion Narine who said he was left shaken by the incident and lamented the state of insecurity on the campus.

“It really just goes to show the extent of crime out here and it has once again spilled over into the campus community. I think everyone is just shell-shocked that something like this can happen on campus. We would like to urge students and now staff to be cautious as we must take safety into our own hands. Clearly that is where we are at,” Narine said.

He described Dass-Supersad as a friendly, caring person and extended his prayers to her family. Campus principal Professor Brian Copeland said “My thoughts and prayers are with the family at this time and we continue to lend our support to them.” In October, a female student reported being assaulted by a bandit which prompted to students to block the campus’ south gate to protest the lack of security at the university.