Twenty-six long days later, and hope for a happy ending to the kidnapping of Naail Ali seems to be slipping away.

The people holding him called his family again on Thursday. They raised the ransom demand, the Express learned.

The kidnappers had initially asked for no less than $2.5 million.The latest demand was made on Thursday, but the new figure was not disclosed yesterday.

Anti-Kidnapping Unit officers have run cold on leads, it was feared.

A kidnap suspect found in the Tabaquite forest was killed before he could tell if he knew of Ali's whereabouts.

And a $50,000 reward by Crime Stoppers for information had up to late last night brought no success.

The Alis have closed their businesses, a hardware and furniture store, and sent home dozens of workers indefinitely. Ali, 25, manages one of the businesses.

On the morning of June 10, he was grabbed by four gunmen outside the hardware. A Toyota Corolla station wagon was used to take him away.

It took two weeks and much pleading before Ali was allowed a ten-second call to his parents.

He begged for helped and cried to come home. Since then, his parents have not heard from him, but the kidnappers have called several more times.

On June 13, police surrounded a house at forested Watts Road, Brothers Road, Tabaquite, and killed Rawle Charles, 26, in an alleged shootout. Two other men who ran from the home are still at large.

Police believed that Charles was involved in Ali's abduction and searched the forest for three days without success. Charles's family have denied he was involved in the kidnapping and that the police were searching the wrong part of Trinidad.

The Express was told that when the kidnappers last called the family, they refused to allow Ali's relatives to speak with him.

His mother is said to be suffering from depression, and his father sedated at the family's home.