Following their arrest after a shootout with police at Craig last week, charges were yesterday read to suspects in the murder of businessman Ganesh Ramlall and the violent robbery of Justice Nicola Pierre and her husband.
Faizal Bacchus, and Lennox Roberts, were indicted for Ramlall’s murder, while Damion Millington, Nicholas Narine, and Anthony David were charged with robbing the land court judge and her husband during a home invasion and discharging a loaded firearm at a security guard during their getaway.
The five men, who shook their heads in apparent indignation at the charges, accused police of torturing them to sign statements in the period since they were taken into custody a week ago. They were all denied bail and remanded to prison.
The men were taken into custody a week ago after a party of police officers from the SWAT team swooped down at a house at Craig, East Bank Demerara and arrested seven persons after a confrontation. Wanted man Rolston Morrison, 29, was shot dead during an exchange at the house, while another suspect Warren McKenzie was wounded. A police officer was also wounded.
Court 3 at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts complex was packed to capacity yesterday as relatives of the men flocked the public gallery for their arraignment before Magistrate Ann McLennan.
Bacchus, 21, a taxi driver of Lot 7 Anna Catherina, West Coast Demerara and Roberts, of 2279 Tuschen Housing Scheme, East Bank Essequibo, were charged with murdering Ramlall in the course of the furtherance of a robbery.
The charge stated that the duo committed the crime on July 5, at La Jalousie, West Coast Demerara, where Ramlall was gunned down.
Ramlall, owner of the Regent Multiplex Mall, located at the corner of Regent and Wellington streets, had just returned home around 12.20 am and was coming from a washroom near to his house when he was shot at least seven times, including once to his head. The men were not required to plead to the charges.
While Bacchus was unrepresented, attorney Melville Duke appeared on the behalf of Roberts and sought bail for him.
The lawyer indicated that Roberts, whom he said has no criminal record, was tortured by the police and he was injured as a result. Roberts, the attorney stated, was experiencing abdominal pains and he was passing blood in his urine.
Duke also said Roberts has a pregnant wife and three children, for whom he provides and sought to assure the court that the accused would meet any condition set for the granting of bail.
Bail was nevertheless refused and the two men were remanded to prison until August 3, when the matter would be heard at the Leonora Magistrate’s Court.
‘Tortured’
Meanwhile, Millington, 20, of 118 Caesar Street, Agricola; Narine, 18, who was said to clean fish at the Meadow Bank Wharf, and David, 28, of 63 Hadfield Street, Stabroek were charged with robbing Justice Pierre and her husband Mohamed S Chand at their Felicity, East Coast Demerara home and discharging a loaded firearm at security guard Raul Peters.
The court heard that on July 9, the three defendants, in the company of others, robbed Justice Pierre of articles including watches, a tablet, video game consoles and games, a phone, a laptop and a quantity of gold and gemstones, all amounting to a total value of $1 million.
It was also alleged that they robbed Chand of five watches, a wedding ring, four Oakley sunglasses, two leather wallets, a Samsung S5 cellphone and US$8,000, all amounting $2,630, 000.
The men were not required to plead to the indictable charges.
From the prisoner’s dock, David sought permission to address the court and it was granted to him.
The man said he was wrongfully arrested, tortured and imprisoned for longer than the 72 hours within which a person can be held without charge. (Police were granted an extension by the High Court to keep the men in custody.)
David recounted being escorted from his workplace at Mike’s Pharmacy and then taken to a police station, where he was asked to identify the other defendants.
“They ask me one question… and them ain’ take no statement from me. Then, them ask me if I know these guys and I say no,” David said, before accusing the police of shocking his private parts, ribs and neck. At this point, the other defendants also began alleging that they were tortured by the police.
David also indicated that he had lost the feeling in one of his feet owing to the torture he sustained by an officer, whom he identified.
He further thanked Magistrate McLennan and expressed appreciation for what she will do for him. He also stated that should he been seen in the media in connection with the case, it would cost him his job and his family would no longer have anyone to provide for them.
But Prosecutor Deniro Jones dismissed David’s claims and charged that he was attempting to mislead the court. The prosecutor said the police received information which led them to carry out a search at a house, where an armed confrontation ensued between the occupants and the officers.
The defendants were arrested at the house, said Jones, who also noted that two of the watches found in the possession of the men were confirmed to be from among the articles stolen from the complainants. He said too that ballistics tests done on a weapon which was retrieved matched samples taken from the crime scene where Ramlall was gunned down and the area where the shootout occurred after the robbery on Justice Pierre and Chand.
The complainants were absent from court yesterday. Chand, according to the prosecutor, is overseas seeking medical attention. He reportedly lost an eye, while Justice Pierre suffered a broken jaw during the attack.
Magistrate McLennan subsequently remanded the men to prison until July 30, when the matter would be heard at the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court.
Another man, Premnauth Samaroo, was charged last week Monday with the robbery. Samaroo, 49, of Lot 16 Craig Street, Campbellville was charged after he was picked out during an identification parade but he told Magistrate Zamilla Ally that the police had the wrong person.
Samaroo was one of four men who were held by police shortly after the attack. Three other persons who were arrested with him were released on station bail but ordered to report to police at stipulated times as the investigation of the attack continues.
Although both Pierre and Chand were brutalised during the attack, no charges related to the assault on the couple have been instituted.
Hours before the five accused were charged, overwhelmed relatives gathered in front of the court, where some wept as they comforted each other.
As the shackled men were escorted back into the prison van after the court hearing, loud wails and cries erupted from the crowd. One woman collapsed beside the road. The commotion continued with angry roars and the banging of the prisoners in the van as it rolled away to Camp Street.
Meanwhile, contacted yesterday, Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum said the allegations of torture being made by the accused are nothing more than a frivolous attempt to undermine the hard work of the policemen involved in the case.
“I am appalled…this is the first time I am hearing that,” he told Stabroek News in an invited comment.
“These allegations are unfortunate because they seek to tarnish the reputation of the force,” Blanhum said. He said that in this particular instance it is the hardworking team who have worked “tirelessly on this investigation”.
He made it clear that the suspects were given access to their attorneys and “at no time whatsoever was any official or unofficial report made to the police.”
Stabroek News has since been told that suspected bandit who was injured in the shootout is expected to be charged shortly with gun related offences. The man is currently hospitalized with gunshot wounds.
