A man endured a harrowing experience late Friday night when he was locked in the truck of his car by carjackers, who later abandoned the vehicle near the Ogle sea wall after they stripped it of all valuables.

Nandram Persaud of Hope West Enmore spent about seven hours in confinement before he was freed after passersby noticed the vehicle and contacted the police. During the ordeal, Persaud, who is a Ministry of Education employee, was choked and repeatedly hit in the face.

Up to press time police were still looking for the perpetrators of the attack. The vehicle is at the Sparendaam Police Station.

A senior police officer told this newspaper that around 11 pm Persaud was on his way home from a popular hangout spot when a car blocked his path. The occupants of the car, according to the officer, relieved Persaud of an undisclosed amount of cash and his cellular phone before forcing him into the truck of his 212 Carina.

Around 6 am yesterday, this newspaper was told, persons walking on the Ogle Seawall saw the suspicious car and alerted the police, who later found Persaud locked in the truck.

Before the carjackers abandoned the car, they stripped the vehicle of its lights, the officer said.

When contacted, a traumatised Persaud recalled that he had just crossed Church Road and was on Thomas Street when a grey car drove up and blocked his path. He said a man came out and asked, “How ya driving suh?”

Shortly after, two men from the vehicle came up. The man said that everything happened in a flash and before he knew it, one of the men was choking him. Persaud noted that the men were armed with knives and one had threatened to shoot him but he did not see a gun.

The man said he was locked in the trunk and while there the vehicle was stopped and stripped of its lights before being abandoned. He said while he was in the trunk he heard the carjackers removing the rear lights. Persaud said the men also made off with his watch, cellular phone as well as a substantial amount of cash.