– abduction, assault matter adjourned to January
The case involving Neurologist Dr Walter Ramsahoye and ex-policeman Clairmonte Marcus were yesterday adjourned until January 13 next year by Magistrate Haywant Ramdhani, after the virtual complainant (VC) failed to make an appearance.
Ramsahoye and Marcus were charged with abduction and assault on Tuesday and were each placed on $1 million bail. The VC, Girdharry Surujdin, had indicated that he did not want to proceed and had supposedly given the police a statement to this effect. However, the prosecutor disclaimed any knowledge of this and the magistrate adjourned to yesterday to give him time to find out.
When the matter was called yesterday at the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court, the prosecution was not in possession of the case file and had received no word from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) on how to proceed.
Magistrate Ramdhani is currently presiding at the court in place of Magistrate Yohannseh Cave who is on annual leave at the moment. He indicated after the matter was called that he would set a long date taking into account that the court is pressed with lots of cases.
Ramsahoye and Marcus were slapped with the charges after it was alleged that last Monday, they held Surujdin against his will and assaulted him after a business deal reportedly worth $10 million fell through.
They appeared before Magistrate Ramdhani at the Mahaica Magistrate’s Court and
were granted bail of $1 million each on the indictable charge of abduction and $50,000 on the charge of assault causing actual bodily harm, to which they pleaded not guilty.
It was related to Stabroek News that around 8 pm on Monday, Surujdin’s sister turned up at the Beterverwagting Police Station and reported that “people” went to her brother’s home, broke down the gate, dragged him out of the house and bundled him into a car before driving off. Some time later, the police received information that a man was in a drain at Church Street. When policemen went to investigate, the man turned out to be Surujdin and he was in a drain outside Ramsahoye’s residence.
Stabroek News was told that Surujdin, who was suffering from an injury to his ankle, alleged that he had been taken from his home by Ramsahoye and Marcus and forced into a waiting car. He was then taken to the doctor’s home where two other men were waiting. The man told police that he was placed on a chair and that Ramsahoye picked up a hammer and began beating him.
However, he managed to escape by jumping through a nearby window after the telephone rang and distracted two of the men.
When the police arrived at the house, only Ramsahoye was present and he and the injured man were taken to the Sparendaam Police Station.
While Surujdin was at the hospital seeking medical attention, Marcus, according to a senior police source, turned up at the station to check on the doctor. Based on a description that was given, he was detained and subsequently identified as one of the persons involved in the incident.
Senior Counsel Bernard De Santos, one of the lawyers representing the duo had pointed out during his application for bail on Tuesday that the abduction charge had not been sanctioned by the DPP Shalimar Ali-Hack, whom he had earlier spoken with. De Santos had told the court that the DPP has advised that in a case where the VC did not want to proceed, she would discontinue the matter.
