Arrested after attacking a civil servant in Belle-Vue-Maurel last Friday with his gang, Azagen Samooghum Pyneandee is now accused of having extorted the sum of one million rupees from her brother.
The mastermind of the gang of criminals who sowed terror among members of a family living in Belle-Vue-Maurel is back in the news. This time, Azagen Samooghum Pyneandee has been caught up in an alleged extortion case committed in 2023. The victim, a social security official, is the brother of the woman whose home the gang broke into on Friday, June 28.
The 58-year-old civil servant said he had been friends with a bakery employee named Azagen Samooghum Pyneandee since 2022. In February 2023, he said he accompanied him to Rose Hill, where he negotiated with a prostitute so that he could have sex with her for the sum of Rs 2,000.
It was Azaghen who accompanied the “couple” to a local boarding school.
A few months later, the fifty-year-old claims that Azaghen Samooghum Pyneandee showed up at his home where he revealed to him that the girl he had spent some quality time with was under 18 and that she intended to file a complaint for sexual relations with a minor. He demanded a sum of Rs 400,000 from her. But when the official refused, the suspect showed up the next day at the headquarters of the Ministry of Social Security in Port-Louis where he revealed everything to the complainant's sister, who also works in the ministry.
Panicked, the latter subsequently transferred the sum of Rs 400,000 to her brother who, in turn, gave this money to Azaghen. However, a few months later, the suspect threatened the members of this family by telling them that he intended to plant drugs in their home. Once again, the complainant said he gave the sum of Rs 500,000 to Azaghen so that the latter would leave them in peace. But Azaghen had not yet said his last word. Shortly after, he extracted the sum of Rs 100,000 more from this official.
On Tuesday, Azagen Samooghum Pyneandee was questioned by investigators from the Criminal Investigation Division of Pamplemousses, led by Inspector Seeparsand. He confessed to having committed this extortion of money estimated at Rs 1 million and said he had already spent it all on entertainment.
The criminal Azagen Samooghum Pyneandee has been in the dark since last Saturday, after he and his gang, composed of Ibne Farhaan Ruhoonauth, Zaina Bibi Ludialiam, alias Yasmine, and Stacy Amanda Songor, broke into the home of this family on Friday, June 28. On the orders of the mastermind Azagen Pyneandee Samooghum, the two women of the gang attacked the occupant of the house as well as her two brothers. Armed with knives, the thugs threatened the victims, searched their house from top to bottom before leaving with jewelry, cell phones, bank cards, among other things. They also forced one of the victims to transfer money to them via the Juice application. One of the women also simulated a sexual act with the three occupants of this house and took intimate photos, while threatening to make these photos public if the victims filed a complaint with the police.
With the opening of this investigation, Azagen Pyneandee Samooghum and the two women had been arrested during the weekend by investigators from the Force Crime Intelligence Unit led by Inspector Mohes. On Monday, the fourth suspect, Farhaan Ruhoonauth, was arrested. He was questioned at length by investigators from the Criminal Investigation Division of Piton, led by Inspector Mootoo and Sergeants Daby and Chellan, on Tuesday. But in front of the investigators and in the presence of his lawyer, Me Ashik Toorabally, this 25-year-old man, originally from Phoenix, asserted his right to remain silent. He also denied the accusations brought against him.
