Attack by fake police in El Socorro – Businesswoman Anesha Narine-Boodhoo snatched

This story has been adjusted to include additional details. See updated post here.

POLICE were Friday night continuing the search for businesswoman Anesha Narine-Boodhoo who was abducted near her El Socorro business place on hours earlier by criminals pretending to be police.

Narine-Boodhoo was in her white Toyota Prado SUV along a dead-end street near her business place – Autorama, at around 8 am on Friday when she was snatched by three men who alighted from a black Toyota SUV which had blue swivel lights, similar to those used by the TTPS. After bundling her into the SUV, the men drove off.

Her workers who witnessed the abduction, contacted the police. It was not known on Friday, if any ransom demand was made to the woman's relatives as police sources chose to remain tight-lipped. Officers arrived and seized nearby CCTV footage as part of their investigations.

Crime scene investigators photographed Narine-Boodhoo's SUV and then dusted it as they searched for fingerprint evidence. Both her relatives and employees refused to speak with reporters.

When Newsday passed by the store, the front doors were open and the business seemed to be open and operating as normal but no customers were inside.

Head of the North Eastern Division, Snr Supt Mervyn Edwards, visited the family at their home after the kidnapping.

There have been 293 kidnappings between January 2020 and November 2023, however only three of these have been for ransoms.

According to statistics from the TT Police Service website, the second highest number of kidnappings per month in 2021 and 2022 took place in December.

Her kidnapping, which came less than 48 hours after a quadruple murder in St Augustine and just hours after the murder of a pregnant mother of two in Arima, spurred an outcry from opposition politicians and the business community about the state of crime.

The San Juan Business Association said in a statement that it was disgusted by “what this country has descended into.”

The association said in its statement, “We are deeply concerned that one of our business associates, a woman, has been kidnapped in front of her business place. We are asking the authorities to do whatever it takes to have this woman returned to her family safely.”

Member of Parliament for Barataria/San Juan Saddam Hosein described the crime situation as “appalling and disgusting.”

He posted on his Facebook page, “El Socorro Main Road is one of the busiest roads in the country. Criminals now find it convenient and comfortable to commit such heinous crimes in broad daylight.”

He said his repeated calls for increased police patrols and joint army interventions in the constituency keeps falling on deaf ears.

Hosein condemned the criminals' actions and offered a prayer for Narine-Boodhoo’s safe return.

The UNC's shadow national security minister Dr Roodal Moonilal accused government of allowing society to disintegrate as he said “brazen early-morning kidnappings have returned us to the bloody pre-2010 era.”

Efforts to reach National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds for a response on Friday proved futile.

The last high profile kidnapping saw the victims released within 24 hours despite the kidnappers demanding a ransom.

On September 8, a Maraval woman and her daughter were taken from their home at Andalusia Drive by several men who entered the house, demanded money, ransacked the house and stole several items.

The assailants then blindfolded the women and placed them in two of the family’s cars and drove off with them.

The TTPS said a sum of US currency was demanded for their return. It is not known if it was paid but the women were released that night along Lady Young Road, Morvant.