BABY JOHN...cooked for
Balo before he disappeared

John was probably the oldest witness called by the US Government to prove its case against seven Trinidadians in the Washington Federal Court. John, 82, of Chandy Lane, El Socorro, San Juan, was the mother of Balram “Balo” Maharaj, previously known as Alladin John. John travelled to the US and testified before Judge John Bates on May 28. The seven Trinidadians were found guilty on July 31 of taking Maharaj hostage, and will be sentenced on February 12, 2010. John was married to William John in 1941. Her husband died 50 years ago.

John, who was born Rajhwanti Maharaj, had to raise 12 children all by herself. Her son Alladin John, who was born a Christian, converted to Hinduism and became Balram Bachu Maharaj, aka Balo. She said Balo dropped out of school and became an electrician. He later left for America. He used to work and send money for her. John said she used to visit him in the United States. She remembered seeing him in the Bronx, then Mount Vernon. “I remember going to visit him in hospital...he was always sick with his stomach. When he visited me, he used to bring his clothes and medicine. “There came a time when Balo entered into a relationship with a woman named Doreen,” John said.

“In January 2005, Balo came to Trinidad and stayed by me. He came back in April 2005 and was supposed to stay for two weeks. I know he used to go to the bar. I remember April 6, 2005. He get up and he had some friend talking to him, he walk and he head to the bar, and he stay a long time talking to his friend. “He come back home and then he went back there about four o’clock. Before he went, I prepared rice and dhal and fried salmon. He went and take food for himself and he went in and bathe. “When he came out, a car was waiting for him. That night, I received a telephone call from one of my relatives’ wives. She was crying, bawling and telling me they kidnapped Balo.(Witness starts to cry). “The police came to my home that night. They stay with me, and after the FBI them come. The police set up recording things at my home. Reporters also came to my home.

Photographs were taken of the house, one lady came and take pictures of the tablets and things. My son brought the tablets for the lady.” John said after Balo left home on April 6, she never saw or heard from him again. The next witness to give evidence on the same day, was Melissa John, 22, one of Balo’s two daughters. Melissa lives in Mount Vernon, New York, and is a full-time student at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan. She told the jury that Balo was her father. He was married to her mother, Veena Bissoon. They separated in 1989, and they got a divorce in 2001. Melissa said her father was a citizen of the US when he died. She believed he was naturalised in 1995. She said Balo used to go back to Trinidad very often. He changed his name in 2000. Melissa said she met a woman called Doreen Alexander, when her father took her and her sister, Jessica, on a trip to Trinidad.

“We went there to meet my younger brother, Dinesh Maharaj. He was about one or two months at the time. Dinesh came to New York when he was a year old. He stayed a couple of months and he went back to Trinidad. I was with my father and my younger sister Jessica when the cops came and took him. “My father used to take a lot of medication. You could tell. I remember Xanax, Metformin and Prozac. I remember visiting my father in hospital, he had a stroke. After that he had to walk with a cane, for some time. My father also had surgeries done to his neck, abdomen, lower back.” Melissa considered her family to be poor, but that changed around 1999. She said Balo came into some money from a lawsuit. He acquired some vehicles and properties in Mount Vernon. He got injured on the job and there was a settlement, Melissa confirmed.

TOMORROW: Bar owner tells of snatch