Murder, kidnap victims' dad: No words to express how I feel

Grief-stricken Frankie Rajkumar, the father of 44-year-old Richard Rajkumar, who died on Sunday after being shot in south Trinidad, cannot express in words what the latest tragedy has done to his already bereaved family.

On Monday, the father of three said, "I keep thinking about my son.

"I am down. I lost my daughter six years, and for this to happen to me again, I do not have words to express how I feel.

"Richard promised to take care of me and his mother. It is difficult for me, for all of us."

"For the morning, I have not eaten anything. I have not eaten in two or three days. I am weak and nervous. I am not myself."

Rajkumar’s daughter Ria Sookdeo, 34, was kidnapped in September 2016. A car blocked her path and pulled her from her car after she dropped her children off to school in Picton Village. To date, her whereabouts remain unknown.

On Friday, Richard, who was a mechanic, was at his business place at Sir Lamont Avenue in Phillipine, on the outskirts of San Fernando, where at around 4.15 pm, he was speaking to someone.

A black Nissan Tiida car stopped in front of the garage, and a gunman got out and shot Richard multiple times. The gunman returned to the car, which drove off. No one else was injured.

Richard, the father of two, from Union Hall in San Fernando, was taken to the San Fernando General Hospital. He died on Sunday at the hospital.

The police do not have a motive. Police investigators could not say if Sookdeo’s kidnapping and disappearance and her brother’s murder were linked.

The Homicide Bureau of Investigations (Region III) and Southern Division police are investigating.