Violent Night in Hindustan Junction, Trinidad: Labourer chopped, homes set on fire

Trinidad and Tobago: A night of blood and flames unfolded at Hindustan Junction, New Grant, on Tuesday, as a vicious cutlass attack on 31-year-old local labourer Joel Smith, also known as "Nunu," triggered a wave of arson attacks, leaving several homes and a vehicle completely destroyed in the inferno.

According to police reports, the attacks began on Tuesday evening, October 7 around 7:10 p.m. when four individuals ganged up on Joel who was sitting by the roadside at Hindustan Junction Road and began striking him with a cutlass that they brought along.

The ambush involving three men and a woman all reportedly known to Joel proceeded with the four suspects passing the cutlass to one another, each administering several chops on Joel’s body.

With one of the suspects allegedly shouting to the others telling them to let him kill Joel before delivering a brutal chop to the back of Joel’s head.

Trying to save his own life Joel reportedly managed to escape the four assailants while bleeding and badly injured, only to collapse a few blocks from the scene.

The police were then contacted and officers from the Tableland Police Station, including PC Balgobin, PC Steele, and PC Ragbir, reportedly responded to the scene, and  shortly after Joel was rushed to the San Fernando General Hospital by EMTs, where he remains in stable condition.

The police proceeded with investigation and upon receiving information, captured four suspects all of Hindustan Junction Road New Grant, aged 46, 27, 42, and 18, all assumed to be the ones involved in the attack.

However, around 10:30 p.m. on the same Tuesday and just hours after the chopping incident, the Hindustan Junction Road New Grant community was rocked with another tragedy, this time involving fire and explosions.

Reportedly, a vehicle, a red Toyota Altis which was parked outside one of the suspect’s family home was set ablaze along with two nearby wooden houses belonging to two other suspects were also seen engulfed in flames moments later.

Furthermore, police report that several people were reportedly seen on the roadway throwing glass bottles toward the homes before the fire broke out.

Both the houses and the car reportedly went out in flames before the fire officers from the Mon Repos Fire Station arrived on the scene to extinguish the blaze.

Crime Scene Investigators and officers from the Tableland Police Station processed both scenes, and came to a conclusion that both attacks might be directly connected. But for now the officers have launched an investigation into both attacks.