The two police officers who allegedly conspired to put a man on a drug charge were granted bail when they appeared at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court yesterday.
Andre Lakeram, 20, of Golden Fleece, West Bank Berbice and Sirdartha Parsamen, 28, of Great Diamond, East Bank Demerara were granted bail in the sum of $350,000 and $200,000, respectively.
Both men had appeared before Magistrate Nyasha Williams-Hatmin on November 11 charged with conspiracy to prosecute an innocent person. They had been remanded to prison.
Lakeram was also charged jointly with Sabatri Singh, 23, of 48 Triumph, East Coast Demerara with larceny from a dwelling house. He was remanded on that matter as well, while the woman was granted bail in the sum of $100,000.
It was alleged that between January 2 and September 8 at Enmore, East Coast Demerara, Singh stole $650,000 from Meer Ali.
It was also alleged between January 2 and September 8, Singh along with Lakeram stole a quantity of items valued over $1M from Ali.
Further, on September 9 at Enmore, Lakeram and Parsamen allegedly conspired together to prosecute Ali on a charge of possession of narcotics, knowing that he was innocent of the offence.
The charges read to the trio were all indictable. However, the prosecution made an application for the Administration of Justice Act (AJA) to be applied. The acting chief magistrate granted the application and she read the charges to the three accused so that they could enter their pleas.
Lakeram, Parsamen and Singh pleaded not guilty to the respective charges against them.
Attorney-at-law Vic Puran, who represented the trio, stated that the allegations against Singh resulted from her present relationship with Lakeram. She had gotten involved with the policeman some time after she had ended a relationship with Ali.
Puran informed the court yesterday that Parsamen went to the location where the alleged crime occurred in search of persons smoking marijuana. Further, he said that neither Lakeram nor Parsamen had been served letters of dismissal.
“Their employer may very well feel that they are innocent,” Puran stated before making his application for bail.
However, the prosecution submitted that the facts presented by Puran were “far from the truth.” While the prosecution stated that it did not wish to delve into the details of the matter, Ali had moved Singh into his family home and that provided her with the opportunity to remove the items.
Parsamen and Lakeram were granted bail in the sum of $200,000 for the conspiracy matter. However, in the larceny from dwelling house matter Lakeram was granted bail in the sum of $150,000.
The policemen’s matters were transferred to Cove and John Magistrate’s Court for next Wednesday. The simple larceny matter against Singh remains at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court for January 8.
