Four men charged with three counts of robbery under arms and one count of possession of ammunition were remanded to prison when they appeared before Magistrate Chandra Sohan at the New Amsterdam Court yesterday.
It is alleged that on June 8, Raymond Fraser, 19, of Reliance; Zakeer Mohamed, 19; Deon Fraser, 22, and Michael Fraser, 25, of Adelphi, Canje robbed Paul Budhu, an overseas-based resident of US$810 (equivalent of $162,000) and a wedding band worth $40,000.
They also reportedly robbed Anawattie Devi Singh of jewellery valued $112,000 and her husband, Ganesh Premchand of a chain worth $20,000 and $40,000 cash.
Reports are that Premchand and Singh had held a get-together in honour of Budhu and that the incident occurred at around 12:45 am just after the guests had left.
Sources said that Budhu was going through a door and was about to close up when he felt a “lash behind his head.” He fell in the house and the men followed him and demanded the articles.
Police Chief Prosecutor, ‘B’ Division, Inspector, Fazil Karimbaksh asked that bail be refused. He submitted that if granted bail the men would evade justice.
He also told the magistrate that citizens must be allowed to live peacefully without having persons going into their homes and robbing them with guns.
In his application for bail on behalf of the three Frasers, attorney-at-law, John Persaud said that the prosecutor addressed him as though his clients were guilty when in fact there is a presumption of innocence.
Persaud who said that the offence is bailable alleged that his clients were badly beaten but they had not been taken to the hospital. He asked for an order to be made so his clients could visit the doctor.
He informed the court that Raymond Fraser suffered injuries to his foot during the beating but the prosecutor denied this, saying that he injured his foot when he tried to jump out of the police van.
The lawyer then questioned why the police did not take his client to the hospital if they knew he was injured and the prosecutor responded that they plan to do so.
Persaud said that his clients who have fixed places of abode possess unblemished records and have never appeared in court before.
He said that two of his clients told him that the police wanted them at the station and he accompanied them.
Michael Fraser, a cane-cutter is in a common-law relationship and his reputed wife is in an advanced stage of pregnancy, Persaud said. Raymond Fraser is also employed with the estate while Deon Fraser works at a cattle ranch in Canje.
Representing Mohamed, attorney-at-law, Charrandass Persaud requested that he be granted bail and said he has no reason not to attend court. He said that the prosecutor has to prove that his client who works with the spray gang in the estate had committed the crime.
He also alleged that the police beat his client and that he sustained a wound to his hip which has become infected.
According to him the police dumped the men in a van and “threw bicycles on them and rested their feet on them.”
But Inspector Karimbaksh denied this and said that the men were taken individually to the station. There are reports that the ammunition was found at Zakeer’s home. This charge relates to the find of 21 12-gauge cartridges and 6 .32 rounds of ammunition.
After listening to the submissions, Magistrate Sohan remanded the men to prison. They are scheduled to attend the Reliance Court on July 2 where the matters have been transferred.
