Trinidadian allegedly fakes his kidnapping in Guyana – Police

Local investigators probing the alleged kidnapping of a Trinidadian national have reasons to believe that the man had staged the crime to demand a ransom of US0,000 from his family back home.
Acting Crime Chief, Assistant Police Commissioner Paul Williams, told Guyana Times that after interviewing 33-year-old Mechancial Engineer Sawak Maraj, investigators became suspicious about the kidnapping allegation.
“So far in our investigations, it appear as if this whole act was staged as it relates to the kidnapping and demand of ransom from his parents,” Williams disclosed.
He revealed that the Trinidadian national was found by police alone in a room at the Madewini Resort on the Soesdyke/Linden Highway on Friday evening. Maraj had arrived in Guyana earlier that day and, hours later, his parents received a call from an unknown person, demanding money for his release.

A report was then made to the Guyana Police Force, and investigations led detectives to the resort.
According to the acting Crime Chief, this is Maraj’s first time in Guyana, and he claimed he was in receipt of a letter via email to attend a job interview with US oil giant ExxonMobil.
“He said (that) during telephone conversations, the person talking to him had a Trinidadian accent. So when he came to Guyana, he expected to meet that person, but then he didn’t meet that person, he was picked up by two other persons,” Williams related.
He went on to say that during the interview with Maraj, the police were told that those two persons who had picked him up from the airport were also Trinidadians.
Further investigations by local authorities have revealed that the two Trinidadians arrived in Guyana on Wednesday, and Maraj was reportedly in contact with them prior to his arrival here.
The police are now on the hunt for the two Trinidadian suspects, who reportedly escaped from the resort moments before the police arrived. “When we got there, he alone was in the room. He said they didn’t too long flee, as the police arrived,” the acting Crime Chief said.
Nevertheless, this newspaper was made to understand that investigators went up to the airport on Saturday to get information on the two suspects, since Maraj was tight-lipped.
Asked whether the 33-year-old engineer had confessed to faking his own kidnapping, Willians said, “We’re still talking to him. We took him apart and (are in the process of) putting him back together.”
Initial reports from the Police revealed that Maraj arrived to Guyana on a Caribbean Airlines flight at about 07:00h on Friday, and was scheduled to be accommodated at the Princess Ramada Hotel at Providence, East Bank Demerara.
However, at some time around 10:50h, his parents in Trinidad received the call informing of his alleged kidnapping. Enquiries made subsequently revealed that the man never arrived at the hotel.
Detectives went down to the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), where they obtained CCTV footage of Maraj entering a taxi. The driver of the car was tracked down, and took investigators to the resort where he had dropped the men off.
This publication understands that the driver told detectives that he was hired by the two Trinidadians at the airport on Wednesday, and took them to the resort, where they indicated to him that they had another person to pick up two days later, which he did.
Nevertheless, Guyana Times was told that Maraj was involved in a similar incident back home in 2001, where his family had to pay alleged kidnappers $200,000 (Trinidadian dollars) for his release.