High drama unfolded outside Bhena’s Footwear in Regent Street yesterday morning as a salesman was abducted; however he was released about seven hours later, after police investigators detained the car used in the abduction and arrested the driver.
Twenty-seven-year-old Xanier Waaldijk of Grove, East Bank Demerara and originally from Linden walked into the Brickdam Police Station just before 5 pm yesterday. Police said the motive for the kidnapping was unknown and up to press time last evening he was assisting the police with their investigation.
The entire ordeal which occurred just before 9 am was captured by the store’s surveillance cameras and the footage was handed over to the police.
Police in a brief statement said that around 09:00 hrs the man was standing in front of the store on Regent Street, Georgetown, when a motor vehicle drove up and two men who were armed with handguns exited.
The two men confronted Waaldijk and forced him into a bronze coloured motor vehicle bearing registration number PLL 8911 which sped away, the release said.
Later, a senior police official informed Stabroek News that sometime around 1 pm, ranks acting on information, located the car in Parfait Harmonie, West Bank Demerara. The driver of the vehicle, he said was arrested and is also currently assisting the police with their investigation.
The official subsequently confirmed that Waaldijk is alive and well.
The official said that on arrival at the police station, the man told investigators that his abductors had covered his head and he was taken to a location in the West Demerara area. Stabroek News has been unable to ascertain where but it is believed that it might have either been Parfait Harmonie, or a village close by. The official said the man told the police that the captors later released him and he travelled to the city on public transportation. The official said the man was then told to go to the Brickdam Police Station.
Employees of the store, gave a different account from that of the police when they spoke to the media.
One employee said that she was walking with Waaldijk when he was snatched. The visibly distraught woman said that as they crossed Regent Street she noticed a car with three men in it parked in front of the store. It would appear that when they got close to the car, the men exited and one called Waaldijk by his first name.
When he responded by nodding his head, the woman said, “they pushed me aside a little and they push him in the car and went away with him.” She said the person who called out for him told him that there was someone in the car who wanted to see him.
It was when he bent down to speak to the person that he held around the waist and pushed into the car.
No one give any indications that the man resisted being forced into the car.
According to the employee, colleagues, one in a car and the other on a motorcycle gave chase behind the vehicle which jumped a red light at the corner of Regent and Camp streets. She said that the pursuit ended after the one of the men brandished a gun. A report of the incident was made to the Brickdam Police Station, the woman said, adding that calls to Waaldijk’s cell phone went unanswered.
She said the man was hired five months ago after he walked into the store and applied for a job. The woman said that during this period she never heard of him being involved in any issue which might have resulted in his being kidnapped. She was unable to provide information on his past employment.
Asked about the current mood of the staff, she said “everybody is nervous. Everybody is scared.”
Following the incident, the store was opened for business and up to when this newspaper left the area, it was still open and a few customers were seen looking at shoes.
Another employee said the car had been parked in front of the store for about an hour. She recalled commenting to another worker that the presence of the car was suspicious, as if it was going to be used in a kidnapping. She said Waaldijk was snatched minutes before the store was scheduled to be opened for business.
Meanwhile, Stabroek News was reliably informed that Waaldijk was fingered in the disappearance of a large quantity of gold belonging to a relative. Sources said the man in custody is the relative.
Despite efforts, Stabroek News was unable to make contact with Waaldijk or any of his close relatives.
