Quick action by the Joint Services yesterday morning resulted in the rescue of a prominent Mahaicony rice farmer four hours after he had been kidnapped in the Burma East Coast Demerara backlands by armed men who demanded $12M for his release.

Parasram Ramnarace of Novar Mahaicony was found bound and gagged in a clump of bushes near to his rice cultivation area around 1000 hrs where he had been hidden around 0730 hrs by the kidnappers pending the transfer of the ransom demanded.

Patrick Skeete, an employee of the rice farmer, who was beaten bound and gagged by the kidnappers earlier in the morning, was also rescued during the Joint Services operation supported by a Guyana Defence Force helicopter.

Two suspected kidnappers were captured in the surrounding rice fields , and a third one nabbed some distance away. Two others were being hunted up to late yesterday afternoon.

A shotgun was recovered at the scene.
Kidnap victims Ramnarace and Skeete were treated at the Mahaicony Hospital and were reunited with their families last night.

Reports stated that the kidnap and rescue drama in the Burma backdam started around 230AM Wednesday and ended at around 1030 hrs-eight hours later.

Patrick Skeete, 28, of One, Calcutta Village, West Coast Berbice, is in loud praise of the Joint Services team that rescued him from a group of men who held him hostage for many hours early yesterday morning.

The visibly shaken father of two, surrounded by his family, relatives and others said that he is happy to be re-united with his loved ones.

Skeete, an employee of well-known rice farmer Parasram Ramnarace, was forcibly taken from his trailer camp aback of Letter T, Abary Creek, by a group of men armed with a shotgun, cutlasses, and a spade.

The man told the Guyana Chronicle that about 2:30h Wednesday morning he was manning the irrigation pumps to the rice fields when he heard a knock.

Skeete added that he went by the door and he was snatched by four men, one of whom was wearing a pink mask and was armed with a shotgun.

The men tied him up and even put a cloth over his eyes and forced a boot tongue into his mouth and ordered him to walk.

Skeete explained that he began begging for his life when the men threw him into the canal.

“I pleaded with them not to drown me, that I have small children to take care of and they hauled me out of the water and put me on the dam,” he said.

Skeete pointed out that after a while he realised that the men had gone. They returned after four hours and asked for his boss.

The man said that he begged the men not to hurt him and they said that they would not harm me, that they were waiting for his boss, Parasram Ramnarace.

Shortly after, Skeete added that he heard a vehicle and suspected it was his employer. The men grabbed the boss from the vehicle.

He was lashed several times about his head and body with a spade and was taken about half a mile away where they relieved him of his cellular phone, his jewels and about $20,000 in cash.

There they demanded a ransom and contacted Parasram Ramnarace’s brother, Bridgedat, who promptly informed the police.

Ramnarace said that he had traveled to the backlands around 0730 hrs yesterday morning to check on Skeete who was operating an irrigation pump for several cultivation plots next to the Abary river.

He did not see his employee at the post and was investigating when a man rushed him and began beating him with a metal spade.

The man hit him several times about the head and body and he collapsed.

He said that he eventually became aware that there were at least five other men in company of the man wielding the spade and one of them was armed with a shotgun.

The men turned him to lie face down, blindfolded him, and then bound his hands behind his back .

They marched him to a spot some distance away, threw him to the ground and took possession of his cell phone.

They also removed a gold ring from his finger and about $20,000 in cash.

He said that he was then ordered to give the telephone number of a relative and he heard the kidnappers make a call to this relative demanding $12M for his release.

The kidnappers then moved off some distance away leaving him by himself.

Some time passed, he couldn’t say how much time, and then he heard the sound of a helicopter and voices and then someone removed the blindfold and he realised that he had been rescued.

He subsequently learnt that members of his family had alerted the Joint Services of his predicament and they had quickly mobilized and moved into the area, apparently catching the kidnappers by surprise.

The team included the chopper mobilized from Camp Ayanganna and heavily armed ranks in 4×4 vehicles.

The kidnappers surrendered without resistance.

Relatives of the rice farmer expressed gratitude to the Joint Services for their quick and efficient response.

Ramnarace himself said had it not been for the efficiency of the Services he may not have survived the ordeal.

The three kidnappers are assisting Police with their investigations and charges are likely to follow shortly.