A Trinidadian man is in Police custody in Georgetown after he allegedly faked his own kidnapping, with the help of two other Trinidadians.
The Trinidadian man, who has been identified as 33-year-old Sawak Maraj, arrived in Guyana on Friday morning and claimed that he was here for a job interview.
He was picked up at the Airport by two other Trinidadian nationals, who had arrived in Guyana on Wednesday and Thursday, according to police sources.
The man’s relatives in Trinidad received a call from an unknown person who claimed that Maraj had been kidnapped just after his arrival at Guyana’s Cheddi Jagan International Airport.
The person reportedly demanded money for his release.
The man’s family also received a photograph, via WhatsApp, of him clad only in his boxers and socks with someone holding a cutlass to his neck.
The family made contact with the Guyana Police Force and Agents from the Police Force’s Major Crimes Unit reviewed surveillance video at the airport, which showed the man greeting the other two Trinidadian nationals and them all boarding the same car without any rush.
The agents were able to track down the location of the phone that was used to make the ransom call.
That phone call was traced to one of the apartments at a Resort at Madewini on the Linden/Soesdyke Highway.
A rescue team from the Major Crimes Unit was activated and according to Police sources, members of the team were left dumbfounded when they breached the apartment and found Maraj “relaxing and sipping on beverages”.
Assistant Police Commissioner, Paul Williams told News Source that the man threw a towel over his face “in a shameful manner”, as the agents moved in.
He said the two other Trinidadian men were found in the apartment.
A hunt is now on for them and investigators are relying on information from the taxi driver who the men used to ferry them around before and after Maraj’s arrival in the country.
Maraj was taken into custody, as the Police informed his relatives in Trinidad that he has been found alive and the kidnapping may have been staged.
Maraj reportedly gave investigators his profession as a chemical engineer and claimed that he had traveled to Guyana for a job interview. However, reports suggest that the man worked with his family at their real estate business in Trinidad.
Investigations are ongoing and charges are likely in the new week. Investigators are expected to release the names and images of the other two Trinidadian men who were involved in the “staged” kidnapping.
While cases of kidnapping are high in Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana has not recorded a kidnapping case in several years.
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