Murdered beauty queen, nurse to be cremated

BEAUTY queen Sadna Gangoo, who was gunned down outside the Princes Town District Facility where she worked as a nurse, will be laid to rest on June 30.

A funeral service will be held at the family’s Mohammed Drive, Fairfield, Princes Town home from 9.30 am. This will be followed by the cremation of her body at the Shore of Peace, Mosquito Creek, La Romaine.

Gangoo, 44, was a contestant in the upcoming Mrs India Worldwide Beauty Pageant.

After finishing work on June 26, Gangoo was walking towards her BMW car to get home, when a silver Nissan Tiida pulled up and a gunman got out and shot her.

He then fled, abandoning the getaway car at Farm Road Princes Town. Police found the car, which is undergoing forensic testing for evidence that may lead to the identity of her killer.

Gangoo died on the spot. An autopsy done at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, on June 28, confirmed a fatal gunshot to the head, at close range, ended her life. She was the mother of one and grandmother of two.

Police are probing the possible link of leaked videos to her murder The videos have been circulating on social media for the past two weeks, but became viral after Gangoo’s shocking death.
Investigators are yet to verify the videos’ authenticity and gather more evidence before confirming if they are linked to her murder, which is being viewed as a hit.

Both the South West Regional Health Authority, her employer, and the beauty pageant have expressed sadness at her passing.

Her death also provoked a response from head of the Trinidad and Tobago Registered Nurses Association Idi Stuart that public health institutions are no longer safe spaces. He said it has now become a target for criminals, referring to the June 5 incident at the Port of Spain General Hospital when gunmen followed men seeking treatment for gunshot wounds and ended their lives.

Stuart said the Prime Minister, having identified crime as a public health emergency, must take steps to treat with increasing scourge.

He said the Health Ministry was not in the business of crime, but health, and it was up to the Ministry of National Security to implement measures to make such spaces safe again.

Homicide Bureau of Investigations Region Three police are continuing investigations.