Three men accused of inflicting grievous bodily harm on another man over a $10,000 debt were each placed on $85,000 bail when they appeared before Magistrate Melissa Robertson in the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court yesterday.
Amernauth Basdeo, 25, of 416 Good Hope; Vibert Deebrah of 245 ‘Block A’ Mon Repos, and Kishore Mohabir, 36, of 86 Vryheid’s Lust all pleaded not guilty to the charge.
It is alleged that on November 23 the men unlawfully and maliciously inflicted grievous bodily harm on Latchman Lakhraj.
The matter ensued over $10,000 which Lakhraj owes Basdeo for a chair set he bought from the man on terms.
Lakhraj admitted owing the man the money but said that there were reasons why he could not pay it. He told the court that the men were in a car and he was walking down the road with a female friend. He said the car stopped and all three exited and Basdeo asked him for the money. He said that an argument ensued and subsequently there was a scuffle and the men attacked him. “I run away and they run behind me… then they go in the car and drive behind meh,” Lakhraj told the court. When they caught up with him, Lakhraj said, the men pummelled him and then threw him in the car trunk. He said that the police came along just then. He added that he sustained a broken elbow and was scheduled to return to the hospital for surgery.
Attorney-at-Law James Bond representing the three men said that Lakhraj was a “profound liar. He must produce something to show that he is scheduled for surgery.”
Bond said that only Basdeo had any confrontation with Lakhraj on the day in question and the other two men had remained in the car.
The lawyer said Lakhraj was also trying to extort money from his clients by lying about the extent of his injuries, when he had only received superficial lacerations to the face from a scuffle between him and Basdeo; a scuffle that he himself initiated, Bond said.
The matter continues on January 12.
