PORT OF SPAIN – With only salted biscuits and snacks to eat, and sandflies and mosquitoes as companions, kidnapped 13-year-old Neil Ramsubhag survived three nights and two days in the Valencia forest.The abductors, he said, planned to bury him.A day after his rescue by police, Ramsubhag was already back at work in the watermelon field yesterday, helping his father pick the fruits planted near their home at Cascadoux Trace, Manzanilla. Acting Prime Minister Jack Warner has promised to visit the family today. The boy was snatched last Monday night during a robbery at the family’s home. He was found wandering on the forest road at around 9:30 a.m. on Thursday. Police have held five men and two women in connection with the crime, and seized two shotguns, 20 rounds of ammunition and two vehicles. Ramsubhag, a second orm pupil of the Mayaro Composite School, gave an account of his ordeal yesterday. “I didn’t think I would see my family again from the way I heard the guys talking. I am really happy to be back home now,” he said.Ramsubhag said he was forced into a panel van where he was blindfolded. “They took my cellphone. I was in the back seat with two men. There was a woman and another man in front. I thought they were going to kill me and I was thinking about my parents all the time.” Ramsubhag said he was transferred to another vehicle, “something resembling a jeep”. Nearing the Valencia forest, the driver stopped to fix a flat tyre. Ramsubhag was led into the forest and joined later by the rest of the gang. He said his blindfold was then removed. He described his journey into the forest as long and tiring.Ramsubhag said the food he was given was stolen from his parents’ parlour. Mosquito coils, bug spray, lighters, snacks and a carton of cigarettes were also taken and used by the kidnappers, said Ramsubhag. He believes he was abandoned in the forest Wednesday night when his abductors heard what sounded like a gunshot.Ramsubhag’s father praised police for their efforts as they “worked feverishly around the clock” to ensure the safety of his son.
(Trinidad Express)
