Latest update April 19th, 2024 12:59 AM
Jul 11, 2017 News
Twenty-two year-old Matthew Shivtahal last night told detectives a harrowing tale of how he walked through thick bush and plunged through mud to get to safety.
Shivtahal of Kaneville, East Bank Demerara was abducted by four prison escapees and held hostage.
The young taxi driver said when he was hijacked, the men drove to North Ruimveldt where they abandoned the vehicle.
Kaieteur News was informed that from there, the men spent several hours walking to the Annandale, East Coast Demerara backlands.
Shivtahal was allowed to leave sometime between 22:00 hrs and midnight on Sunday. The escapees directed him how to get to the main road.
The taxi driver told the police that the men didn’t eat and kept walking. Three of them were together chatting, while one of the escapees was guarding him—so he did not hear what they might have been planning. It took a lot of begging before he was freed.
The escapees that were with the driver are believed to be Bartica massacre killer, Mark Royden Williams called ‘Smallie’; Stafrei Hopkinson Alexander; Dellon Henry called ‘Nasty Man’; and Uree Varswyck – the quartet that broke out of the correctional facility as it was being razed.
According to reports, Shivtahal was driving motor car PKK 4103 and was in the company of a female and five children – all below the age of 12 – when they were pounced upon by the men in Bent Street, between Camp and George Streets.
The woman who was in the car with Shivtahal, said that the young man was forewarned by a pedestrian before he arrived at Camp Street that ranks of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) and prisoners were trading bullets, and that he should be careful.
“I tell him to turn back and he tell me and my children to duck down in the car. When we reach the corner (Bent and George Streets), he give a man (another driver) a pass, and by then, the men surrounded the car. Dem block off the four doors.” She said.
The woman, who requested anonymity, said that the men began “chucking out” her children barking orders for them to get out of the vehicle.
The woman said that she and her children complied and were let out safely. However, the shaken Shivtahal was not allowed to leave the vehicle, despite offering the keys to the men.
“He give dem de key, but they didn’t take it. Dem tell he that he have to drive them. I didn’t see which direction they went in, because I was running to get help,” the woman recalled.
She said she didn’t know why Shivtahal would choose the ‘town route’ to get to Grove on the East Bank Demerara when he would have picked up his passengers from the East Coast of Demerara.
“I don’t know why he drive through town. I thought he was using a shortcut,” the woman said.
The woman confirmed one of the men to be Bartica massacre killer, Mark Royden Williams.
Meanwhile, Shivtahal’s wife, Rohanie Khaimwattie, had confirmed to Kaieteur News earlier yesterday that her husband’s car was discovered somewhere in North Ruimveldt, Georgetown, yesterday.
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