6 days ago
1
JENSEN LA VENDE
Senior Reporter
Police Commissioner Allister Guevarro says there is no resurgence of kidnappings for ransom, even with the kidnapping and murder of Vishnu Lalla just last weekend.
Guevarro spoke at the end of a panel discussion at the American Chamber of Commerce TT’s Health and Safety Security and Environs conference at the Hyatt Regency Hotel.
“We have no information from the TTPS that there has been any resurgence of any kidnapping in this country,” he said.
Lalla, 63, was found with a bullet wound to the head and his hands tied behind his back with a white piece of cloth around 9.35 on Sunday night. He was found one mile into a forested area off Brechin Castle Road, Rivulet Road, Couva. A single 9mm spent shell with the markings Blazer 380 Auto was found close to his body.
Police reported that around 6.50 pm on October 8, they received a report that Lalla, of Dairy Lane, Windsor Park, California, was tending to his animals when he was kidnapped. His grey Toyota Hilux was seen speeding away from the scene, and was later found on fire at George Street, Esperanza, California.
Lalla’s wife received a call from his cellphone with someone on the other end demanding a $100,000 ransom.
Lalla, the brother of Krishna Lalla, owner of Super Industrial Services, was killed despite relatives paying a $50,000 ransom for his safe release.
A police officer and two men are in custody, assisting police with their investigations. Asked about the officer being held, Guevarro said the officer was not under arrest.
“He is not under arrest. He is detained and assisting police with their investigations at this time. So let us not presuppose what will be the outcome of the investigation,” he said.
The officer, who had failed to show up to work for the past two weeks after being transferred to the Longdenville Police Post, was held on Sunday along with a another man. A third suspect was held on Monday morning.
Guevarro called on the public to let the investigation into Lalla’s kidnapping and murder take its course.
Earlier this year, Scot Timala Rambaran and Kerry Von Adams were also kidnapped and later found murdered.
Rambaran, 33, a Stores Manager at Harry Persad & Sons Limited, was last seen on July 8 leaving his Piarco Gardens, Oropune home, with an envelope containing $25,000 in cash—proceeds of a loan to be used to purchase a car in Arima. He was found murdered on July 10.
Von Adams, 35, of Old Piarco Road, Red Hill, D’Abadie, was last seen alive around 11 pm on July 5, and was last heard from on July 6, when he called a female relative saying he urgently needed $15,000.
His body was found on July 7, a day after the ransom was paid.
According to the TTPS website, up to September, there were five kidnappings for ransom reported, with the same for the corresponding period in 2024. Last year ended with six reported kidnappings for ransom.
There were 100 reported kidnappings for the year up to September, while for the same period in 2024, there were 85. At the end of last year, there were 109 reported cases.
English (US) ·