Port-of-Spain, Trinidad -- INVESTIGATORS are expected to confer with the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Thursday with a view to laying charges against suspects in the murder of Mark Rattan, a student of St. George's University (SGU) in Grenada.

A woman and three men are now in custody in connection with the murder. Well-placed sources also told the Trinidad Express that they expect further developments in the case Thursday. Rattan, 18, son of Dr Dipchand Rattan, was abducted and killed on Monday night.

It was reported that Rattan left his Santa Margarita home to go a to a fast food outlet in Curepe, and on leaving the establishment in his father's vehicle which he was driving he was boarded by three men and taken to Caura where his head was bashed in. He was also stabbed several times.

The three men who abducted the 18-year-old student later crashed the stolen vehicle on the Churchill Roosevelt Highway, and on questioning, their crime was discovered by the police.

One of the three fled the scene, but the other two took the police to Caura and showed them the canal in which Rattan was thrown after the gruesome attack.

The men were held and police later arrested the other man and the woman. Rattan's father has said he believes it was a kidnapping gone bad, and that he was sure his son would have fought with his attackers.

Rattan, a medical student at St George's College Grenada, was due to return to school in January. Meawhile, the following statement was issued by St. George University on the murder of Mark Rattan:

The Chancellor, Administration, Faculty, Staff and Students of St. George's University extend sympathy to the family and friends of Mark Anthony Rattan.

It is with shock and sorrow that we received the tragic news of his passing on Tuesday, 27 December, 2005.

We mourn the death of this young man, whose future held much promise and whose development meant so much to his family and our institution.

Mark, a Trinidadian, joined the University in 2004 and was actively involved in the Caribbean Student's Association.

Those who knew him say he was truly a Caribbean citizen, embracing Grenadian culture and his many other colleagues.

Messages of sympathy and comfort have been pouring in from members of the Grenadian and University communities.

To Mark's relatives and friends, who have been so deeply shaken, we offer a message of hope that, in time, they will find solace in each other.

Our community too has been moved by these events and will long remember the pain of a life ended too soon, and forever treasure the memory of a vibrant, affable young man.