KIDNAPPED Cumuto schoolgirl Parvati "Peggy" Maharaj, 17, was last evening rescued by police on Blanchisseuse Road, Arima, after officers locked down the area and arrested four suspects, among them, two women.
The rescue was made shortly after 7 p.m. by officers of the Anti-Kidnapping Unit, Northern Division Task Force and the Criminal Intelligence Unit, who moved into the area based on intelligence.
Up to last evening, the victim was at the Arima District Hospital being examined by doctors. Police said she had no visible signs of violence, and the $50,000 demanded for her safe release was not paid.
"We are glad to get her back safe, but we hope they did not interfere with her," her elder sibling, who asked not to be identified, said during a telephone interview last night.
At the time, the family was on their way to the Arima Police Station to meet their loved one, who was taken by kidnappers on Wednesday.
In a strange twist to the case, officers found the victim's father's white Toyota wagon motorcar, which Maharaj was bundled into by her abductors, parked at the Arima District Hospital. Crime scene investigators from the Northern Division are expected to carefully examine the vehicle for evidence.
Police said after interviewing the four suspects, who were held in a house along the Blanchisseuse Road, they moved into a remote location off the same roadway in an attempt to close in on two other suspects who were guarding Maharaj.
The men, upon realising police were hot on their trail, abandoned the teen and made a dash for freedom along a ravine. The victim then made her way to the roadway where she was spotted by officers.
Maharaj was to be interviewed by police before being reunited with her family last evening.
The victim, an upper sixth form student of North-Eastern College in Sangre Grande, was taken from her home after three armed bandits robbed and terrorised her parents.
After the bandits tied up Harold, 47, and his wife, Primatee, 45, in their room, they ate the family's meal of KFC and even offered them some of the food. The men also cleared several cupboards containing groceries and took all the foodstuffs.
Parvati had just completed mock exams at her school and arrived at home with her mother when they were ambushed by three armed suspects.
Her younger sibling, Roshan, 12, and his father were attacked when they later arrived at their home and were tied up with bedsheets in separate rooms. Harold is employed as a clerk at North-Eastern College.
Before leaving with Maharaj, the suspects demanded $50,000 from her parents in exchange for her safe release, demanding the money be paid by 3 p.m. yesterday. The family was also warned if they notified the police, the teen would be killed.
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