Relatives believe couple were abducted
THE Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) yesterday, in a press statement, responded to an article in the January 5, 2009, edition of the Kaieteur News captioned ‘Doctor, fiancée missing’.

MISSING: Dr. Samsundar Lakeram and Ms. Radica Dwarka.

The article stated that Dr. Samsundar Lakeram is employed at the hospital.

The GPH stated that Dr. Samsundar Lakeram is no longer employed at that institution.

GPH said that Ms. Radica Dwarka, who, together with Dr. Lakeram is reported to be missing, is an employee at GPH since November 2005.

The management and staff of the GPH however, added its support for the safe return of Dr. Samsundar Lakeram and Ms. Radica Dwarka.

Up to press time, investigators were still trying to locate the missing couple who both left their respective homes for the city to conduct some business on Saturday morning.

To date, their whereabouts are unknown, despite several searches launched by both detectives and relatives.

At Dr. Lakeram’s residence at Nonpariel, East Coast Demerara, yesterday, relatives and concerned neighbours gathered to comfort the family members who were engaged in prayers for their missing loved ones.

Dr. Lakeram’s father, well-known hardware store owner of Best Buy on Nonpareil Public Road, said that his son left home on Saturday in his vehicle for the city to repair his laptop and purchase a new cellular phone. His 25-year-old fiancée, Ms. Radica Dwarka, was with him.

That night, when he failed to return home, calls to his cell phone were unanswered, and the matter was reported to the Police the following morning.

“Our son never stayed out a night from his home and we are very worried. He has been missing two days now, and we are hoping and praying he will return home safely,” his mother said yesterday.

The doctor’s father told the Guyana Chronicle that when his son’s vehicle was discovered abandoned at the seawall in the vicinity of Police Headquarters, Eve Leary, Georgetown, they knew something was amiss, since it was unusual for the couple to act irresponsibly.

The vehicle is lodged with the police and contained personal items including the couple’s clothing and footwear.

The elder Lakeram is stunned as to the possible whereabouts of his son and is of the opinion that they are being held against their will.

To date, family members claimed that they did not receive any ransom call.

Meanwhile, the visibly distraught Dwarkas were very upset with the report of a section of the print media yesterday and were on the brink of tears when the Guyana Chronicle visited their home.

At their Block ‘CC’ Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara home, Ms. Radica Dwarka’s father openly expressed his displeasure at the report carried in a newspaper.

He however, admitted that the couple have been seeing each other for about two years now and spoke of their planned wedding.

He pointed out that his daughter left home in the company of Dr. Lakeram for the city to pay bills and purchase a cellular phone.

When she failed to return home they became worried and telephoned Dr. Lakeram’s family to ask of their whereabouts.

The Dwarkas claimed that they received several telephone calls about their daughter’s whereabouts, but they were all false.

Dr. Samsundar’s vehicle was observed parked about 4pm on Saturday at the seawalls and it is believed that the couple were forcibly taken from the vehicle elsewhere.

Relatives are of the opinion that the young couple were not victims of a robbery, but were abducted.