When Komal Maharaj, a 40-year-old former school teacher and a married father of two, went missing on July 19, it generated widespread concern. On social media, his disappearance post was shared thousands of times—some people blamed the country’s crime rate, and others prayed for his safe return.
When news broke that he had been found 14 days later, on August 2, there was a collective sigh of relief. But his story—being snatched in Price Plaza, taken to Venezuela and then returned home again after a ransom was paid—was the cause of scepticism and scrutiny.
Some people believed it was a hoax; some said he was a cryptocurrency broker and a deal went sour, and more speculated that another woman was involved.
It forced the Maharaj family to issue a statement on Facebook.
“While the details of the entire ordeal cannot be made public at this time, due to the sensitive nature of the investigation, we can confirm that Komal was held captive in Venezuela. We are grateful for the prayers and support that brought Komal back safely,” the statement said.
Komal’s case remains an active one by the Anti-Kidnapping Unit.
“Information into the details of the investigation is not ready to be released to the general public for both legal and strategic reasons. But rest assured that as the matter reaches its conclusion, the information will be appropriately distributed,” the TTPS’ Communications Unit said in response to questions from Guardian Media on Friday.
In this exclusive Guardian Media investigation, we piece together what took place in the 14 days between July 19 and August 2 and how Maharaj managed to return home.
Lead Editor Investigations
asha.javeed@guardian.co.tt
Komal Maharaj, clad in jeans, a red T-shirt, a grey long-sleeved hoodie, and black and white sneakers, left his Felicity home on Friday, July 19, at 11.30 am.
He had just dropped off a curry-Q lunch for his wife, Josann Maharaj, and headed to nearby Price Plaza in his blue Hyundai Ioniq to use the Scotiabank ATM.
According to security footage from the bank, Komal used the ATM at 12.30 pm. He reportedly told Josann, via a phone call, that he was going to meet someone and should be home by 2 pm.
He did not return home that evening. Calls were unanswered. His car was found untampered in the mall carpark hours later.
Komal was initially classified as a missing person. In the two days that followed—July 20 and 21—social media posts by the Hunters Search and Rescue Team (HSRT) were shared thousands of times. In addition, the Anti-Kidnapping Unit (AKU) stepped in.
Days later, Komal was able to communicate with Josann through WhatsApp. If Komal speculated on why he was taken, he didn’t share it with his family. He sent a voice note, which the AKU has in its possession, saying he was kidnapped, he was in Venezuela, and a ransom was demanded.
In addition, he also communicated with Shamsudeen Ayube, a commander with the Hunters group, as he had messaged through WhatsApp. He said that Komal sent a location pin from Venezuela. The pin location only had the phrase Troncal15, which showed, when Guardian Media searched it, that it was in Venezuela. (See map)
Devindra Maharaj, Komal’s cousin, also confirmed that Komal shared the pin with Ayube as well as his wife. Maharaj was nominated for the role of spokesperson for the family by Josann. He was defensive of Komal, critical of Ayube, indifferent to the scepticism, and short on details.
“Let me first and foremost confirm that it was a kidnapping. I can confirm with you that a ransom was paid. There are things about the investigation that are still going on that I have been told that I need to be tight-lipped about. And simply because it can affect the integrity of the investigation itself. And obviously, this is not coming from me,” Maharaj said.
For his part, Ayube was sceptical that Komal was kidnapped given that he had access to WhatsApp on his phone. He told the police and media as much and that he was in contact with Komal, who had asked what resources they had available to him to help find a way out of Venezuela.
Maharaj said Komal had selective access to his phone.
“They (the kidnappers) did allow him to use his phone to get whatever demands they wanted, and then the phone was taken back. So, it’s not like he has the phone all the time and was scrolling Facebook and YouTube and all of that. It was only when they gave him the phone to contact his wife that is when he had the opportunity to use his phone,” he said.
It was Josann’s responsibility to monitor her phone to negotiate her husband’s release and manage through the media maelstrom while taking care of her daughters.
The stakes—her husband’s life and her family’s future—were high.
“It was indeed very difficult, especially when the girls kept asking for their dad. I will never wish this on anyone. It was like living a nightmare,” she told the Sunday Guardian.
Komal’s return
Maharaj said that Komal’s kidnappers, who were unmasked and armed, did not understand English, so they allowed him to use the phone to message Josann on the ransom request.
He said that Komal was able to call home “on one or two occasions.” Maharaj said that while captive, Komal was forced to sleep on the floor and was fed bread and water twice a day. He did not shower for two weeks. He was allowed to use the washroom.
“He was threatened with dismemberment when they found that they were taking too long to organise the ransom,” he said.
After a week-long negotiation, a ransom was paid, and Maharaj said they waited for Komal to come home.
“When they released him, they dropped him off on Chatham Beach. He had to swim to the shore because, again, how it works is when a boat comes into shore, it cannot come all the way in simply because of the wave. So they dropped him a little way off, and he had to swim in. He walked along the road from Chatham’s beach to the main road itself,” he said.
At that point, his phone was taken away. He was given different clothes to wear by his abductors. The first shop he spotted, he went to ask to borrow a phone to call Josann. The owner denied his request. She subsequently took a screengrab from her camera footage (see picture) to share with police. Komal fared better at the second shop where he stopped. He was allowed to make several calls—his wife (where he sent his pin location) and the police (who were on standby to pick him up).
Maharaj said he was the fourth person Komal contacted.
Komal stayed in the shop until the police arrived and took him to the Point Fortin Hospital. A photo taken of him at the hospital was widely circulated. After he was discharged he went home.
“Fortunately enough, he was not physically harmed. However, he did suffer from not drinking and things like that,” he said.
Sunday Guardian: Was the ransom in cash or cryptocurrency?
Maharaj: Cash.
Sunday Guardian: In T&T? or Venezuela?
Maharaj: T&T.
Sunday Guardian: Why Komal? What was the motive?
Maharaj: Financial benefit.
Sunday Guardian: What guarantee do you have that the perpetrators will leave the family alone?
Maharaj: Again, we have no guarantee of that.
Sunday Guardian: How close is the police to tracking down the perpetrators of this incident?
Maharaj: They are doing their investigations.
He said that while Komal was not a rich individual, he is rich in intellectual property. Maharaj wanted to make it clear that Komal did not call Ayube first, to alert him of his return.
“That is false. Absolutely,” he said. In fact, he said, Ayube called him to ask whether Komal was found.
“There was absolutely no call made to the Hunters association (the Ayube faction) whatsoever because the Hunters sssociation were not people that, how should I put it, provided a lot of faith and trust into this situation, regardless of what was said from them,” he said.
When the Sunday Guardian pointed out that they were the first people to share a social media post and bring awareness to Komal’s disappearance, he responded, “Yes. They did share. A lot of other people shared the post, too. And I agree with you on that.
“Well, myself and the family understand that people were concerned about it. People prayed for his wellbeing, and people wanted him back or wanted him to come back alive. We understand. We understand that. However, he has come back alive, and there are numerous conspiracy theories of why he went away or why he disappeared. And again, it was never reported as a kidnapping. It was always left as a missing person,” Maharaj said.
It was the family statement on August 3, which said he was kidnapped.
The theories of what happened posited on social media and explored by the Anti-Kidnapping (AKU) stretched from a crypto deal gone bad to an illicit affair with a Venezuelan national in which he was duped.
Maharaj denied the theories in the public domain. For her part, Josann finds the scrutiny intrusive.
Clues about Komal
Clues to Komal are found on his social media. He appears to be a family man, with his wife and daughters appearing on his Facebook and TikTok accounts.
He supports Indian culture (his father is a pundit) and was a judge at the Grand Finals of Mastana Bahar 2023.
On X, he’s following 30 accounts, most of which are bitcoin-related and the sitcom, Big Bang Theory.
He has only 12 followers, which include his wife, and just seven posts, most of which are from 2015.
In one instance, he posted his cellphone number on X with the message: If u need a math tutor, call the math god @ (cell number).
When the Sunday Guardian explained the public interest in the matter, Maharaj responded, “In all fairness, we don’t owe the public two cents. The public was not there when we had to deal with ransom. The public was not there when we had to deal with the issue of not hearing from Kamal for days on end. The public did not have to deal with the mental anguish that the family had to handle.
“And we were being advised by the Anti-Kidnapping Unit not to say certain things because it would hamper the investigation and create issues. It is not that we don’t want to clear his name. There are allegations out there that are totally preposterous and totally ridiculous. But at this point in time, we cannot say what has fully happened because we have been advised that we should not do that.
“We don’t owe the public an explanation at this point in time. Because we cannot give the public an explanation at this point in time,” he said.
“I agree that the public was out there. Yes, I agree that they prayed. But I didn’t know that when you pray for somebody, you expect something in return,” he added.
How is Komal now? ‘Physically? the Sunday Guardian asked.
“He’s doing better. He’s actually sitting now. You know, he’s regaining his strength. He’s doing better physically. The mental aspect is where we have to be concerned because, again, this is a traumatic ordeal that he went through, regardless of what other people might think.
“And being away from your family, being alone, it would take its toll on anyone, not knowing whether they are going to be returned, whether they’re going to be killed, whether they may never see their daughters again.
“So it was a very traumatic experience for him. So he has a long way to go with regards to getting that sense of security back mentally,” said Maharaj.
Komal: I shall ignore the negativity, we are on borrowed time
In a statement to Guardian Media yesterday, Komal said, “Thank you, God, and everyone who showed their support by praying and putting positive energy out there. It was indeed well received on our end. I shall ignore the negativity moving forward because it is already a difficult time as it is. Life is too short, and I know that we are here on borrowed time, so I am grateful to see another day.”
