A prison warden was yesterday charged with attempting to smuggle 10 packs of cigarettes into the Georgetown Prison.
Dunushram Seeraj, 27, of 48 Cumberland, was placed on $20,000 bail after changing his initial guilty plea to not guilty when he appeared before Magis-trate Judy Latchman at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.
The police’s case is that on November 2, at 16:45hrs, Seeraj, a prison officer of four years, reported for duty. However, when he was searched by other prison officers, 10 packs of Bristol cigarettes were found concealed on his person. Seeraj was then cautioned, arrested and charged.
His attorney Paul Fung-a-Fat challenged the police’s facts, asserting that his client only had five packs of cigarettes. Fung-a-Fat also told the court that his client, who smokes, is allowed to take cigarettes into the prison and was not selling cigarettes to prisoners.
Magistrate Latchman subsequently granted Seeraj bail after there was no objection from Prosecutor Vishnu Hunt. Seeraj will make his next appearance in court on November 27.
