PAY OR WE LOSE HANDS

SNATCHED: Brandon O’Brian, who along with his brother Jerry and four others have been kidnapped and are being held for ransom in Venezuela.
SNATCHED: Brandon O’Brian, who along with his brother Jerry and four others have been kidnapped and are being held for ransom in Venezuela.

PAY the ransom or their hands will be chopped off.

This is the ultimatum given yesterday to the families of six men, one of whom is a teenager, who were kidnapped on Monday and are now being held against their will at an unknown location in Venezuela. The ransom demanded is US$200,000 (TT$1,353,350 or $15,768,640,000 Venezuelan Bolivars).

The six are Jude Jaikaran,16; brothers Jason, 38, and Jerry O’Brian, 36; Ricky Rambharose, 35; Brandon Arjoon, 29; and Linton Manohar, 36, all of Morne Diablo.

A photograph which circulated widely on social media especially Facebook showed all the men except Rambharose, sitting on the floor while being surrounded by men pointing machine-guns at them. This photo was sent to relatives on Monday morning.

In a voice note circulating on social media, one of the captives pleaded for relatives to sell their houses, vehicles and even boats to make up the ransom money. In the background, in the voicenote, a man speaking English tells the captive what to say.

In the audio clip, the captive said the kidnappers intend to make good on their threat to cut off body parts if their demands are not met by Friday.

JUST A BOY: Jude Jaikaran,16, another of the Trini kidnapping victims.

Newsday spoke to sources in the Anti-Kidnapping Unit who said they attempted to make contact with the relative of one of the fishermen on Monday night, but was told this relative could not speak to police as he had "domestic issues" to take care of at home.

Police said they do not have jurisdiction to pursue the matter as the kidnapping happened on international waters. They however confirmed that local authorities in the Foreign and Caricom Affairs Ministry and the National Security Ministry were working with their Venezuelan counterparts to try and rescue the six.

Contacted for comment, Police Commissioner Gary Griffith confirmed the incident but said he could not reveal much information on the matter. When contacted for comment, Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi advised Newsday to speak with National Security Minister Stuart Young. Calls to Young's cellphone were not answered.

TEARS AMID FEARS

The fishermen live close to each other in the village of Morne Diablo, near Penal. When Newsday visited, relatives were weeping and consoling each other.

Ambrose Jaikaran told Newsday, “My son is just 16 years...I still can’t believe this is happening.” He said his son was training to be a fisherman and had gone out with the other five on Monday. “He loves fishing and usually goes to observe and learn the trade with the older men in the village. I did not think that on Sunday morning when he left that would have been the last time I was going to see him again.”

“These people are demanding US$200,000. Where am I even going to get that kind of money? We are not rich people in the back here. I have read about this on the newspaper where fishermen are kidnapped but I never thought it would have reached home. I am so scared (about) what they are going to do my little boy,” Jaikaran said as he wiped away tears.

At a nearby house, Brandon’s mother Jassodra Arjoon could not catch her breath. “They said if they don’t get the money by Friday they are going to start to cut off their arms and show it to us. Oh God, no! Where are we going to get that money from? I am begging those in authority, please don’t let them kill my son. Please,” she sobbed.

Arjoon said her son left home on Sunday at about 4 pm with the other fishermen. “They did not return Sunday night as they would usually do and on Monday morning we got a telephone call that they were kidnapped and these men want US$200,000. My son and these other men are innocent, they did nothing wrong.”

She is calling on those in authority to intervene immediately. “Look at the kind of guns these men are holding to their heads. I cannot even sleep just knowing that any moment my son could be killed.” Earlier this month, a 17-year-old student and his cousin were kidnapped by Venezuelan pirates while fishing.

A photograph of the schoolboy, identified as Kenrick Morgan and his cousin Kendell Singh shows a man holding a gun to their heads. It was sent to their family and a ransom of US$40,000 was demanded. Up to press time, Morgan and Singh remained unaccounted for. The Anti-Kidnapping Unit is investigating both incidents. (Additional reporting by SHANE SUPERVILLE)

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"PAY OR WE LOSE HANDS"

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