分类： society

A shocking, senseless act of violence has cut short the life of a young Trinidadian farmer just months after he and his brother launched their new agricultural venture. On Tuesday, 34-year-old Kamal Richard Mohammed, a father of two young children, was ambushed and shot in the head while working on a cultivated plot off Manohar Trace, Rochard Road in Barrackpore, local law enforcement and eyewitnesses confirm.

According to official police accounts, the attack unfolded around midday. The unidentified gunman, riding a bicycle, approached Mohammed on the agricultural land, drew a concealed firearm, fired a single shot at the farmer, and immediately fled west along an unpaved dirt track. First responders were alerted swiftly, and Mohammed was carried to a waiting vehicle by his relatives and colleagues for emergency transport. Along Papourie Road, the Emergency Health Services ambulance took over the patient transfer and rushed him to San Fernando General Hospital. Despite rapid medical intervention, Mohammed was pronounced dead at approximately 1:20 p.m.

By Tuesday afternoon, investigators had located a key piece of evidence: a red and black mountain bike matching the gunman’s description was abandoned at the side of the road near Manohar Trace, confirming details from eyewitness accounts.

Mukesh Mahase, a long-time employee of the Mohammed family who was present at the farm alongside Kamal and his brother Rasheed during the attack, shared his harrowing recollection of the incident with reporters. Mahase said he had been kneeling and tending to pumpkin crops when he heard three gunshots ring out across the farm. Lifting his head, he spotted the masked attacker on the trail. “I said, ‘Who is you?’ The man start to ride that bike real speed,” Mahase recalled. He described the gunman as wearing a long-sleeved garment with his full face covered, riding a mountain bike matching the model police later recovered.

After the shooter fled, Mahase said Rasheed came running from the area of the farm’s pond, shouting that Kamal had been shot near the water pump. “It was blood like that. I raised his head and put it on his brother’s knee. The next brother run with a towel and they start to make calls,” Mahase said, emphasizing that the family has never been involved in conflict with anyone in the community. “We don’t trouble nobody, we don’t have nothing with nobody in the trace. Them is good soldiers. I know him as a little brother in front of me. They killed an innocent man.”

At the Mohammed family home on Wednesday, grief hung heavy over the entire household as Kamal’s elderly parents mourned their slain son. Seventy-three-year-old Sackeer Mohammed and 63-year-old Leela Mohammed told reporters their son had never mentioned receiving threats before the attack, and there had never been any prior violent incidents targeting him or his brothers.

Leela explained that the farming venture was new for her sons: just last year, an elderly local man who had long managed the parcel of land hired Kamal and his brother to clear, prepare, and cultivate the plots. The brothers had spent months working tirelessly to get the farm ready, only planting their first full crops earlier this year.

“He did not deserve that (death). He did not trouble anybody. He would go to work and he loved to exercise and eat healthy,” Leela said, her voice breaking as she spoke of Kamal’s two young children, aged four and six. “His children have been asking for him, and we do not know how to tell his children that he died.”

As of Wednesday, detectives from the Region Three Homicide Bureau of Investigations have not identified any confirmed motive for the killing, and the investigation remains ongoing.

A suspicious early-morning fire has gutted the interior of a $1.98 million residential property linked to the high-profile alleged false imprisonment and assault of a domestic worker in southern Trinidad, law enforcement and fire officials confirmed this week. The blaze broke out just after 6 a.m. Wednesday at the three-bedroom concrete home located on Deosaran Trace, San Francique in Penal, with local investigators now leaning toward arson as the cause, believing a Molotov cocktail was thrown through one of the property’s bedroom windows to ignite the fire. Neighbors were the first to spot thick smoke billowing from the residence, and they quickly alerted emergency responders, who arrived on scene within minutes to contain the spread of the flames. While firefighters successfully prevented the fire from destroying the entire structure, saving the majority of the building’s exterior and outer structure, the entire interior of the home was completely destroyed by the blaze. When local media outlet Express visited the scene Thursday morning, fire investigators and police officers were still conducting forensic examinations and collecting evidence at the damaged property. One anonymous local resident, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity, described the unnaturally quiet start to the emergency, saying, “I just walked outside and saw the smoke. It was surprising because I didn’t hear any noises or anything. Other residents came out and someone called the fire station.” Teams from both the Penal Fire Station and Penal Police Station responded to the call, and as of Thursday, investigations into the cause and perpetrators of the fire remain ongoing. The damaged property is directly connected to a recent disturbing abuse case involving 42-year-old Sabita Basdeo, a Barrackpore-based mother of two who has worked as a domestic worker for the residents of the home. Basdeo has alleged that she was subjected to brutal, prolonged abuse at the hands of the property’s occupants: she claims she was beaten repeatedly, had her head slammed repeatedly against a solid wall, suffered intentional burns across her body, and was held captive against her will for an extended period. After she was able to escape or be rescued, Basdeo was immediately transported for urgent medical care to treat extensive bruising across her face and body, as well as other visible traumatic injury marks. Police took two suspects into custody last Saturday in connection with the abuse allegations: a 38-year-old woman and her 17-year-old son, who are accused of orchestrating the unlawful confinement and brutal assault. As of Thursday, both suspects remained in police custody, and investigators are preparing to submit the case file to legal authorities to formalize multiple criminal charges. Basdeo’s family, including her husband and one of her two sons, has publicly spoken about their desire for her to make a full recovery and return home to their residence on Ramlal Road, off Platinite Trace in Barrackpore, once she is cleared to leave care. Investigators have already completed a formal interview with Basdeo to document her allegations, and they are expected to receive formal legal guidance imminently on moving forward with charges against the two suspects.

One week after 7-year-old Angelica Saydee Jogie lost her life in a tragic jet ski collision at Tobago’s Pigeon Point Heritage Park, her remains were transported back to mainland Trinidad on an evening flight, accompanied by her grieving immediate family.

Angelica’s parents, Arnold and Salisha Jogie, and her older sister Angelina Sophie, touched down at Piarco International Airport alongside the child’s body. Contrary to initial expectations of an immediate return to the family’s Barrackpore residence on Cemetery Street, relatives confirmed the group traveled directly to a Penal funeral home, where Angelica’s body will be held ahead of her Saturday funeral service.

The first-grade student from San Fernando TML Primary School was swimming with her family near the popular heritage park when the out-of-control jet ski struck her two Wednesdays prior. Three family members were injured in the incident: Angelica, her father, and her uncle Darren Jogie. All three were rushed to Scarborough General Hospital for emergency care, but Angelica succumbed to her wounds shortly after arrival. A post-mortem examination confirmed her death was caused by multiple severe traumatic injuries sustained in the collision.

In the days following the tragedy, the 32-year-old jet ski operator, a resident of Tobago’s Canaan Feeder Road, was taken into police custody the day after the incident. As of this week, senior law enforcement sources told the Trinidad Express that investigators are finalizing their case file, which will soon be submitted to Director of Public Prosecutions Roger Gaspard to decide whether criminal charges will be filed against the operator. The suspect remains in detention as the inquiry concludes.

Since Angelica’s death, family members have gathered nightly at the Barrackpore home to grieve and honor the young girl. Angelica’s grandmother Radica Jogie has led daily prayer sessions and bhajan singing, with Angelica’s parents participating virtually until their return to the mainland this week. On Saturday, a funeral service will be held at the family home, followed by cremation at the Shore of Peace cremation site. Earlier this week, Oropouche East Member of Parliament Dr Roodal Moonilal visited the grieving family to light a memorial candle, offer prayers, and extend condolences. Moonilal noted that he had been deeply moved by the outpouring of community support for the Jogie family, highlighting the remarkable unity and compassion the neighborhood has shown in the face of devastating loss, and added that the family remains in the thoughts of people across the constituency and the entire nation.

Over the weekend, hundreds of community members, religious leaders and civil society organizers gathered for a public candlelight vigil to mourn Angelica, where attendees pushed for tighter safety regulations at the country’s coastal recreational areas and called on the national government to prioritize child water safety.

In the wake of her daughter’s death, Salisha Jogie has made an urgent public call for a full ban on jet ski operations in recreational swimming areas across Tobago. In an interview with the Express last week, she said, “My request is I want something to be done for those jet skis in that area in Tobago because this must always be remembered in such a way that it should never happen again, and something must be put in place for those jet skis to be removed. I don’t want them, I don’t want anyone to have to feel the pain that I am feeling right now.” She emphasized that her daughter’s senseless death must serve as a permanent wake-up call to prevent similar tragedies from striking other families.

Reginald Mac Lean, head of the Tobago Hotel and Tourism Association, has joined Jogie in calling for a full ban, describing unregulated jet skis as “ticking time bombs” that pose an unacceptable threat to beachgoers. “They are ticking time bombs and they need to be gotten rid of; too many people around have been severely damaged and others have been killed. If these individuals are not willing to keep these jet skis out of the areas where they are not supposed to go, they should be banned completely from Trinidad and Tobago,” Mac Lean told reporters. He added that there are a wide range of alternative, far safer water activities that tourists and locals can enjoy without putting lives at risk.