- Blackmail and threats against the owner of the premises and her brothers
- Three arrests and one questioning
What started as a classic burglary degenerated into a scene of terror and humiliating blackmail for a 51-year-old senior civil servant and her two brothers. It was Saturday June 29, 2024 in Belle-Vue-Maurel.
One of the two women participating in the break-in simulated having sex with the two brothers and with the owner, taking compromising photos and videos. Images used to threaten victims and silence them under penalty of seeing them broadcast on social networks.
All four suspects were nabbed by a team from the Force Criminal Intelligence Unit (FCIU), led by DI Mohes, with Sergeant Arnasala. Three of them were kept in police custody and the fourth, who was arrested, was questioned and later released.
The loot taken is estimated at Rs 650,000. A part, that is to say objects worth Rs 150,000, was able to be recovered. The plaintiffs confirmed that they do indeed belong to them. Among: gold chains, bracelets and rings in gold and silver, a mobile phone, a shoulder bag as well as the sum of Rs 2,200.
Suspicious behavior
The burglary took place on Saturday morning. The senior civil servant, aged 51 and working within a ministry, was in the company of her two brothers who live in the same house as her. In her statement, she relates that around 7:30 a.m., two unknown women showed up at her door, claiming that their car had broken down and asking for access to her house to drink water, use the toilet and the telephone. Suspecting suspicious behavior, she refused them access.
A few minutes later, these same women returned, accompanied by two men. Together, they broke a window at the back of the house, entered the interior and immobilized the owner and her two brothers. Under threat of knives, the attackers tied their victims with nylon ropes before searching the house. They also extorted the victims' banking application passwords.
That's not all. One of the two suspects went further. She pretended to have sex with the two brothers and the owner of the place. During the act, she took compromising photos and videos. She threatened them to release these images on social networks and make them viral if they told anyone about the burglary.
The burglars also took care to deactivate the video surveillance cameras in the house and took away the digital recorder, with other stolen goods estimated at Rs 650,000. Once their crime was committed, they fled. Three of them were spotted on the same day in Inkerman Street, Rose-Hill, by a team from the Force Criminal Intelligence Unit (FCIU), led by DI Mohes, with Sergeant Arnasala. The first two to be arrested are Pyneandee Sanmooghen, alias Azagen, a 25-year-old homeless man whose last known address is Nelson Mandela Street, Stanley; and Ludialiam Zaina Bibi, alias Yasmine, a 36-year-old homeless woman. Pyneandee Sanmooghen confessed at the time of his arrest. The shoulder bag he was holding was searched which resulted in the recovery of several of the stolen pieces of jewelry and a mobile phone. Compromising photos and videos were also discovered on his smartphone, which confirms the allegations about the staging carried out under duress. The suspect also revealed the identity of his accomplices. Ludialiam Zaina Bibi admitted her participation. Both were questioned at length. They were taken into police custody on the orders of DSP Buchoo. They appeared before the Weekend Court on Sunday June 30, 2024 for provisional arraignment. A third individual was arrested on Saturday: a certain Yousouf R. He is the owner of a red private van used in the burglary. This 51-year-old resident of Highlands accompanied the police to the station for the purposes of the investigation. However, he refuted the accusations against him. He was not identified by the plaintiffs. He was released after his interrogation.
The fourth suspect, Stacy Amanda Songor, aged 28, was apprehended by the FCIU on Sunday June 30, 2024 in Rose-Hill. The three accused have been handed over to DI Mootoo and his team at the Criminal Investigation Division in Piton for further investigation. They are kept in detention.
