Mark Sookdeo broke into tears yesterday as he pleaded with his wife Ria Sookdeo’s abductors to return her safely for the sake of their two children.
“We are hoping for her safe return. My kids do not even know what happened. They won’t be able to deal with this,” Sookdeo said while standing in front of Ria’s red Nissan X-Trail SUV in Picton.
Sookdeo, 40, a National Petroleum (NP) plant assistant, said he had already reported for duty at Petrotrin’s Pointe-a-Pierre refinery when Ria, 34, left their home at Raghoo Village, Debe.
Around 8.30 am, Ria dropped Elana, nine, and Torres, five, at the Picton Presbyterian Primary School along Papourie Road, Diamond Village, San Fernando.
A hairstylist who worked from home, Ria was expected to return to her business for a day’s work.
However, while following her routine of driving up to the Picton Estate Drive to turn around, a heavily-tinted black Nissan X-Trail pulled up behind her as she drove into the street. Two men, allegedly in tactical gear, then got out, pulled her out of her SUV, bundled her into their vehicle and left with her. Police were unsure whether the men had weapons.
An eyewitness contacted the San Fernando police and an All-Points Bulletin was issued.
A team of officers, led by Insp Don Gajadhar and including woman Sgt Morrison, Cpl Bacchus, PC Rampersad, PC Joseph and WPC Marshal, arrived on the scene and began co-ordinating searches for the abductors’ SUV in the Cedros and Los Bajos areas.
However, the T&T Guardian was told that the number plate on the abductors’ vehicle was actually registered to a Ford Ranger pick-up. Fingerprints were taken from Sookdeo’s vehicle but it was not yet known if they could be linked to the abductors. Ria’s phone and bag were found in her SUV and one side of her slippers was found outside.
Two National Operation Centre helicopters were conducting aerial searches up to late yesterday while the Anti-Kidnapping Unit was gathering intelligence. Sookdeo said up the noon yesterday, he had not received a ransom demand.
Friends and relatives were out in San Fernando and Debe distributing flyers with Ria’s photo up to yesterday evening. An email account, findria2016@gmail.com, has been set up so that anyone with information can forward it to the police or family.
The couple has been married for the past 11 years and Sookdeo said he could not think of any reason why someone would want to abduct Ria.
“I am still trying to figure it out. I don’t know who would want to do this because we don’t live like that. We’re always by ourselves and we see about ourselves,” Sookdeo said.
Ria’s father, Frankie Rajkumar, said Torres was bullied by an older boy last week. He said while running, the boy sticked out his foot and tripped Torres. He said when Mark complained to the principal, the boy’s parents and police were called in. However, Sookdeo said he was not sure if that could be the reason for Ria’s abduction.
“I’m not sure but you can’t trust anybody in this rounds, so anything is possible.”
He said everything was normal up to Wednesday, when they went about their normal day-to-day business, including going to the airport and the bank. Investigators believe Ria’s abductors were watching her movements but Sookdeo said they did not notice anyone following them around.
Investigators said several officers have been called out to work on the case in the hope of finding Sookdeo soon.
Community fearful
Ria’s mother, Chandra Rajkumar, said when she and Frankie visited the family on Wednesday night, Ria was in good spirits. Chandra said she had a close relationship with Ria and if something was wrong she would have known.
“I really don’t know, I just really want my child back. The Lord will be with her,” Chandra said.
Scores of relatives, neighbours and friends lined the pavement along Papourie yesterday, horrified at the brazen acts of crime that had affected their community in recent times.
Ria’s cousin and councillor for Debe East/Esperance/Union Hall, Marsha Jaimungal-Khan, called on Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley to step up as head of the National Security Council.
She said the community was a quiet place where abductions never occurred. She noted, however, that the criminals were now leaving the hot spots and targeting peaceful communities and a lot of robberies had been taking place recently .
Close friend, Donna Narace, said Ria did not know violence and would be afraid to harm anyone. She said Ria was fearful of a lot of things so they would call each other every morning.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the San Fernando police at 652-3206, 652–2858, 652-1771or the Crime Stoppers at 800-8477.